Castles Burning
by roar526
Summary: NOW COMPLETE! My post Don't Cry story before we see the real one. Mary is recovering and becomes obsessed with the past. Will she risk her health to find the truth? How will Marshall react? And where will it lead them?
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I own nothing and have no illusions otherwise.

Spoilers: Everything through S2 finale.

A.N.: Thanks to the wonderful sfchemist and bujyo for their help and patience in getting this story done. I know I was a real pain in the a** constantly looking for positive reinforcement. The story is just about finished and I want to get it posted before the premiere airs and I have to accept their version of the story.

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**Castles Burning**

Title comes from Neil Young song Don't Let It Bring You Down:

Don't let it bring you down

It's only castles burning

Find someone who's turning

and you will come around.

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**Chapter 1: Fuhgeddaboutit**

**November 1977: New Jersey **

He knew he was in serious trouble. This time he'd picked the wrong people to borrow money from and it was coming back to bite him in the ass.

When he arrived at the abandoned warehouse, they were waiting for him. His friend from the track, Eddie, was there too. He wasn't surprised since he'd been the one to hook him up with these Mafia bastards in the first place. If they didn't agree do the job, they'd be killed. And if they did do it, well, he could only hope in the end they'd be slightly better than dead.

"Jimmy, my boy! So glad you could make it." He recognized the guy from the last meeting. Everybody called him Vinny "Shoes" Scarletti and he was supposedly the Boss's right hand man. Word on the street was that the "Shoes" referred to all the guys he'd put in cement before dumping them into Newark Bay.

"I'm here," he sneered back. "Let's just do this already."

"Patience, Jimmy, patience," Scarletti said calmly as he came and put an arm around Jimmy's shoulders, leading him toward the rest of the group. "You wanna make sure you get it right, don't you. It'd be a shame if something happened to you or that pretty family of yours."

***

The job went south a little too quickly, especially considering all the months of planning involved.

It wasn't until Jimmy was locked up in a cell that he had time to think about what went wrong. He went over it in his head and realized that the Feds couldn't have gotten there that soon...unless, they knew when it was going to go down.

Was it a set up?

'How?' he kept asking himself over and over again, knowing he didn't have all the pieces to the puzzle. Kicking the concrete wall of his cell he cursed, "God damn it!"

"Y'okay over there, Jimmy?" Eddie called out.

"Yeah, fuckin' terrific! What the hell did you get us into with those gavones, you moron?"

"It's not like I had a choice. They threatened my family, Jimmy, and I know they said they'd go after yours too."

"Damn it! I never shoulda let you talk me into takin' any money from them."

"We're screwed. Aren't we, Jimmy?" Eddie asked in a quieter voice as he sat down on the bunk, not really wanting to know the answer.

Jimmy didn't say anything right away. Leaning forward, he rested his head on the wall and thought about the options in front of them. He knew the mob had long arms and couldn't imagine that prison would keep them much safer than they'd be on the street.

"Either way, Eddie," he finally said in reply, "we're dead."

Just as silence settled between them, each man lost in his own thoughts, a loud clanking echoed through the cellblock as the door opened. They could only listen to the sound of the footfalls making their way down the corridor toward them.

Eddie looked up just as the men in the suits came into his line of vision. His surprise turned quickly to curiosity as he watched them open Jimmy's cell and enter. He strained to try and hear what was being said, but was too nervous to move any closer. So he let his imagination run wild and sat back on his bunk, figuring Jimmy would tell him when the meeting was over.

After the men entered his cell and Jimmy got a good look at them, it wasn't difficult to figure out that they weren't Feds. Their identity piqued his interest and instead of telling them to go to hell, he sat down and waited.

***

It was the second time in the past month that they were getting ready to change his location and he had started wondering just how well he was really being protected.

Jimmy was never really convinced about the whole idea of testifying against the mob. He'd heard tales of a witness protection program, but nothing to put any stock in. The men that had visited him that night in his cell had offered him a way out of his current situation and the chance at a new life, with or without his family. It hadn't taken him any thought at all to choose the latter.

The truth was, as much as his heart ached for his little girl, he had already made the decision to leave before the job went down. He never had any intention of going back to that house or that life. Now, after it was becoming clear that he was still at great risk, he was left wondering why he was putting himself on the line to help bring down the mob. 'I mean, these assholes ain't offerin' me anythin' I can't do for myself,' Jimmy mused as he waited for the Marshals that were protecting him to take him to his next location.

It was during the transfer that he made his decision. There was no way he'd trust his life to anyone, but himself. He knew the mob would be gunning for him as long as he was breathing, testimony or not, so at least not testifying would allow for the possibility that they'd stop coming at him with quite as much urgency. And as far as the Feds went, he'd had more than enough experience staying under the radar that he was willing to take his chances.

***

**Yesterday: Albuquerque**

"Where the hell were you the other night?" Mary barked at Raph as he walked through the door after work, her voice full of accusation.

"Why do you care? You're the one that kicked me out, Mary?"

"I did not…"

"No," Raph snapped angrily, cutting her off, "Don't try to say you didn't, because you did. You chose your partner over me, like you always do."

"What the hell are you talking about?" she questioned as the tension spread through her already sore muscles. She had been home from the hospital less than a week and it only took a couple of days of her being back in the house for the fighting to begin. "You're the one that came in and accused Marshall of interfering with my recovery."

The first couple of days back at home had been rough. Mary had been in a lot of pain and was appreciative that Raph was there to run interference with Jinx. But once she was able to move around more freely on her own, the hovering began to annoy her and then the fighting had commenced.

It had started with Raph trying to tell her what she was and wasn't allowed to do, which only aggravated Mary and caused her to insist on doing everything by herself. They each got defensive and reacted to the other by playing the 'I told you so' card whenever possible, until things escalated and all they did was argue. The situation the other night with Marshall seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back and they'd both had enough.

"Well, what am I supposed to think when I come home to find him here and you talking about getting back to work? You only just got out of the hospital!" He took a deep breath to calm himself and ran his hand through his hair in frustration before adding, "And you did kick me out. You said, 'this is my house and if you don't like the conversation, then leave.' So that's what I did, Mary, I left. I'm actually surprised you even noticed."

"Oh, I noticed, all right," Mary spat, fuming over the fact that he was trying to make himself the victim in this situation. "I noticed that your ass didn't come home." It had been the night before last that he had walked out and not come home. As a result, Mary had refused to speak to him when he finally did arrive and spent last night on the couch.

Anticipating the fight to come upon his return from work today, she had spent the entire time he was gone in a foul mood and had taken a preemptive strike at him as soon he arrived. Unfortunately, it hadn't made her feel any better, especially since it seemed that the more riled up she got, the calmer Raph looked; which irritated her to no end.

The lack of emotion in his voice as he finally responded to her last outburst, surprised her. And what he said, was the last thing she expected to hear in that moment.

"Choose, Mary. Become my wife and build a life and family with me, or go back to work and your partner."

She knew, instinctively, that he was serious. And as much as she wanted to say something, she kept her comments about him being an ass to herself. In fact, she didn't say anything at all.

It was her lack of an answer that confirmed the conclusion Raphael had already drawn in his head and he knew there would be no more arguments on the subject. Telling her he'd be back for his things the next day, he turned and walked back out the door.

**So, like? No? Push the button and let me know and I'll try to get you a chapter a day.**


	2. Chapter 1

**For disclaimers, notes, thanks: see prologue**

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******Ch. 1: A Hard Pill to Swallow**

**Present Day: Albuquerque**

She watched the door close behind him, but couldn't actually grasp the fact that he'd really gone.

Mary collapsed into the couch and stared up at the ceiling. It had been 15 days since the shooting, 12 days since she had regained consciousness and 7 days since she had been released from the hospital.

"It's got to be some kind of record," she said out loud to the empty room.

'Who are you kidding, Mary?' her subconscious spat back. 'It was only a matter of time. You're not actually surprised he made you choose, are you?'

Despite her best effort to ignore herself, she did have to admit that she shouldn't have been so shocked when the words came out his mouth.

She'd known deep down that he wouldn't be able to handle her not wanting all those "traditional" things that he felt a woman should want; like popping out babies and having dinner on the table every night by 6pm. That is why Mary didn't stop him from leaving yesterday, and why she certainly didn't stop him today as he carried the last of his things out the door.

"Screw this," she said picking herself up off the couch and heading into the bedroom. "Time to take back what's mine." And with that, Mary proceeded to reclaim the drawers and closet space she had so unwillingly given up to Raphael in the first place.

'Who the hell invited him to move in here in the first place?' she thought as she pulled sweaters from boxes under the bed that would once again be able to find homes in more suitable places. 'Cause it sure as hell wasn't me.'

She spread out her clothes in the closet and smiled at the realization that they would no longer be wrinkled all the time from being shoved so close together. But the smile faded quickly as she looked up and saw that the box with the letters from her father had been moved.

Her abdomen screamed in response as she reached up for it, pulling at her still sore wound, but she didn't care. Her only thought was about making sure there was nothing missing and that no one had invaded her privacy. As she lifted the lid, she swore she'd hunt Raph down and shoot him if he went through her things without her permission.

Pulling out all the letters, she carefully stacked them on her bed. Then, one by one, she put them back in the box. She checked the dates on each and examined them for signs of tampering. Satisfied that the box must have been moved as Raph packed his things, she placed the top back on and ran a hand over it as she thought about her father.

"Mary! Hey, Mare!"

Mary was startled out of her reverie by her sister's scream.

"I'm in here, Squish," she called back, rolling her eyes at her sister's behavior and shoving the box underneath her bed.

"What the hell did you do to Chico?" Brandi said, barging into the room. "I know you've been fighting, but I can't believe you kicked him out."

"I didn't kick him out, Squish."

"Yeah, right," Brandi replied sarcastically, obviously not believing Mary. "Your shooting's been so hard on him, Mare."

"Excuse me?" Mary questioned, trying to comprehend how her shooting was now all about Raph.

"Not knowing if you were going to make it or if you were going to have brain damage. It wasn't easy on him. It wasn't easy on any of us."

"Well, I'm so sorry to have inconvenienced all of you by being shot," Mary snapped back, once again not believing how incredibly selfish her family could be. "But I didn't kick him out, Squish. He tried to make me choose and that's not fair to me."

"Fair to you? Seriously? All you ever think about is you!" Brandi spat as she turned and stormed back down the hall, slamming the back door as she left.

"Squish!" Mary yelled, jumping up a little too fast. She reached out and steadied herself on the bed as she slowly sat back down, holding her hand against her belly. She was starting to fear that in her determination to grab the box of letters, she had really hurt herself.

Grabbing her phone, she hit the speed dial and waited impatiently through the two short rings it took him to answer.

"Well, to what do I owe…"

"Can it, Doofus!" she barked into the phone. "Why haven't I seen you for the last two days?"

"I just thought maybe…"

"I don't care what you thought. This is my house and I expect to see your ass walking through the door in 15 minutes."

"Um, okay," Marshall said hesitantly.

"On second thought," she said as the harsh tone disappeared from her words, "make it 20 and bring food. I'm starving."

Normally, spending his day off with an irritated Mary wouldn't rate high on his list of things to do, but he'd been worried ever since she was released from the hospital. He'd visited her every day, making sure she was comfortable and supplying her with her favorite foods, all the while trying not to seem like he was hovering or untrusting of her caretakers.

The rapid improvement she had made in the hospital seemed to slow after she arrived home and Marshall couldn't fail to notice the increased signs of tension and irritation, even if he couldn't see the cause. He had been debating whether or not to broach the subject with her the other day when the answer presented itself. Raph had arrived home early and he witnessed first hand the source of Mary's aggravation.

Marshall realized now, that it had been wishful thinking on his part to believe that his absence would help facilitate some sort of balance in the household. And as he drove, all he could hope for was that the required damage control would be minimal and that Mary's recovery hadn't been set back too much.

He juggled the bags of food in his arms as he neared the door and attempted to knock.

"Just use your key, numb nuts," hollered a familiar voice from within.

"Well, that's easier said than done," he responded with a smile as he heard her feet pad across the carpet to the door.

"Jesus Christ, Marshall," Mary said as she opened the door and took him in. "How many people are you planning on feeding?" Then, she stepped aside and watched as he made his way tentatively toward the kitchen.

"Just one," he quipped as he looked around, trying to discern if the lack of cars really meant that no one else was home.

"Relax, Nelly," Mary said, coming up behind him and grabbing one of the bags. "You can stop sneaking around. Nobody's home."

"I do not sneak," he insisted.

"Sure you don't," she threw back at him sarcastically, "Either way, you don't have to worry about it anymore."

Something in the definitiveness of her tone immediately caught Marshall's attention and he raised his eyebrows questioningly.

She turned away from his gaze, focusing on the bag of groceries in front of her and said, "Raph's gone. Moved out this morning."

When there was no response from her partner, Mary let silence settle between them as she searched for the courage to face him in light of what she viewed as her latest failure.

"Mare," Marshall whispered softly after a moment in an attempt to draw her attention. He was trying to gauge her reaction to the situation and promised himself that he'd make Raph pay if he hurt her, especially while she was still recovering from being shot.

As she braced herself for the anticipated pity, she raised her head and was taken off guard by what she saw. It was a look of concern and caring, mixed with something she couldn't quite read and she felt slightly overwhelmed by the emotions it stirred in her. Turning away quickly, she regained her composure and moved toward the living room.

"Now, what's a wounded girl gotta do to get a decent meal around here?" she tossed back over her shoulder to lighten the mood.

Marshall watched her, concerned, as she plopped down on the couch. He was amazed by his partner's ability to take whatever life threw at her, but knew the shooting and Raph's subsequent departure had taken its toll after what had already been a difficult year.

So he promised, then and there, that he would make sure that Mary recovered without any further set backs or aggravations. And knowing this meant spending as much time with Mary as she would allow, a small smile formed on his lips as he set about making something to eat.

***

In the past week, they had fallen into an easy routine and Mary didn't realize, at first, just how much she had begun to rely on Marshall's visits. He had been coming by everyday after work and often stopping by over his lunch break as well. But today, he was busy with a new witness and she knew there was the possibility he may not get there at all.

Mary walked around the house, happy for the peace and quiet that came with her mother and sister being out, yet looking for something to do. As her medical leave continued, she was getting increasingly restless, especially when Marshall wasn't there to distract her.

Wandering from room to room, she opened cabinets and looked through drawers as she searched for a distraction. Not finding anything that piqued her interest, she found herself once again in her bedroom.

Raph's night table caught her attention and she realized that even though he'd been gone over a week, she still hadn't looked in it to see if was anything left behind. Making her way around the bed, she opened the draw to reveal two items. A box of condoms and the WITSEC book she'd given him before she was shot.

Not wanting to deal with the implications of the book just yet, she reached for the box and her thoughts drifted to how long it had been since she'd had sex. Since someone had touched her…

'No, Mary,' she scolded herself, 'let's not go there. You don't need to add depression to your already too long list of problems.'

As she tossed the box back in the drawer, something about the fact that the condoms were there in the first place started to bother her. She couldn't put her finger on it and even smiled thinking about just how active their sex life had been. Then she slowly pieced it together.

Raph had been her fiancé. They were engaged to be married. And she was on the pill. When you added it all up, they should have been well past the stage of condoms.

'That's the natural progression for two people getting married, two people that love and trust each other. Isn't it?' she questioned herself.

'You're crazy if you think I was going to take that risk,' her subconscious argued. 'You don't know where Raph had been before you. Hell, you can't even be positive whom he was with while he was seeing you. Remember the physical therapist.'

"Oh, God," Mary said, sitting on the edge of the bed as the reality that she had obviously never really trusted Raphael completely set in. Then, she thought about the fact that he never protested using a condom and understood that he was just as concerned about her faithfulness. Or worse, she had reason not to trust him. "And I almost married him."

Standing, she moved to close the drawer in an attempt to stop the thoughts in her head when she saw the book again and stopped. She wondered what the hell was wrong with her that she had told him about her job, not only putting herself and her witnesses at risk, but Marshall as well.

"Nice clusterfuck of a life, Mary," she said, slamming the drawer shut and walking out of the room.

Ending up on the couch, she flipped through the channels in search of something, anything to take her mind off her recent revelations. She paused briefly on a documentary about National Parks, knowing it was something that Marshall would try to coerce her into watching, eventually settling on a marathon of some procedural crime drama.

Hours later, she woke to a ringing sound. Groping for the coffee table, she found her phone and pushed at the buttons to get it to shut up.

"What?" she growled into the phone without looking to see who was calling.

"Well, hello to you too, Sunshine," Marshall replied.

"Marshall?" Mary questioned as she started become coherent of her surroundings.

"Yes?"

"Jesus, what time is it?" she asked as she sat up and found the remote to shut off the television. Looking out the window, she could tell the sun was lower in the sky and wondered just how much of the afternoon she missed.

"It's about 5 o'clock." Marshall responded with a smile as he pictured her discombobulated state in his mind. "Can I assume that your time gap is a result of some beauty sleep and not from being accidentally sucked through time in a suspicious phone booth?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Nothing," Marshall said, shaking his head and making a mental note to rent the movie just to torture her. "I wanted to let you know that it doesn't look like I'm going to be out of here in the near future."

"Bonding with the latest member of our exclusive club?"

"Bonding may be a strong word," he said as he rubbed his forehead with his free hand. "So I thought since I won't make it tonight that I'd come and take you out to lunch tomorrow."

"Out? In public?" Mary feigned shock at his words. It was the first time since she got out of the hospital that someone had offered to take her out of the house.

"Yes. Out in public. I hear they even have tables and chairs." he replied sarcastically. "But there's one condition…"

"Here we go. I knew it was too good to be true."

"I want you to go take your medication."

"Is that all? Fine, I'll take it when we get off the phone."

"No. I want you to go take it right now."

"You want to listen to me swallow the damn pill?" she said, unable to believe he was making such a request, yet believing he would make such a request.

"Yes," he responded smugly.

"Fine. Whatever gets your rocks off, pervoid," she teased as she made her way to her bedroom to get the medicine bottle.

She balanced the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she attempted to open the childproof cap.

"Damn. Stupid. Cap." Then, in frustration, she twisted the cap with all her strength and watched helplessly as the bottle slipped from her hands and the pills spread across the floor.

"Are you happy now, Doofus?"

"What happened?" Marshall asked with concern in his voice.

"The damn pills are all over the floor! That's what happened, asswipe!" Mary spat as she peered around looking for the bottle.

"Well, did you at least take one?" he deadpanned.

"So help me God, Marshall…"

"Right. I'm going back to work," Marshall said, cutting her off. He recognized the dangerous tone in her voice and knew to quit while he was ahead. "I'll see you tomorrow." And he hung up without waiting for a reply.

Mary muttered under her breath as she threw the phone on the bed and got down on all fours. Finding the bottle under the night table, she began gathering the little pills. After picking them out of the carpet, she pulled up the bedspread to check if any were under the bed and was surprised to see the box of her father's letters.

She had forgotten that she'd stuck them under the bed earlier that week when Brandi stormed in and accused her of kicking Raph out. Making sure she had all the pills, she closed the bottle and placed it on the table before pulling out the box.

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**Thoughts? Still interested? Push the button and way in?**


	3. Chapter 2

**Ch. 2: Shadow of Doubt**

_February 5, 1978_

_Mary, _

_Sweetheart, I must leave quickly so this has to be short. If you haven't already been told, I've done some bad things and have to go away._

There was no reason to read the words, Mary had had it memorized since she was 7 years old. She held the letter to her chest and closed her eyes. Then she watched the words float across her mind as tears began to form behind her eyelids.

_You will no doubt hear from people in the coming months that I am a very bad man_. _I am sorry you have to go through this. For what it's worth, I don't think of myself as bad, just very, very foolish. _

'Why, Daddy? Why?' Mary thought, wishing for an answer to that and her many other questions regarding her father. Blinking back the tears, she cursed her emotions. She was a grown woman and a U.S. Marshal, for chrissake, she knew she was stronger than this and hated the fact that her father's words could still reduce her to such a state.

She was about to put the letter away when something drew her attention to it yet again. She noted that he called himself foolish, not bad. 'Why foolish?' she pondered. Then the possibility that he got himself mixed up in something formed in her head, leading to the hope that maybe her father was just a victim of circumstance.

Mary had spent years in law enforcement developing skills that helped her sort through information to find the facts and observe things that others usually didn't notice. She realized that that was what she needed to do now. It was time to say goodbye to the sad, little girl that missed her father and change her perspective.

Focusing on the letter, she read it carefully before folding it back up and setting it aside. Then, she spent the next couple of hours pouring over each and every word he ever wrote to her. It was mentally exhausting, and as much as she tried to remain impartial, she slowly began to lose her focus. By the time she was nearly done, she had once again begun to feel like that 7 year-old that sat by the window each day after school for weeks, watching for her father's car.

And as she read the end of last letter she had received from him, the tears were back and now leaving wet trails down her cheeks.

_You have become a strong and independent woman and not a day goes by that I am not proud to be your father. Just remember that for all the bad in this world, good can still be found. Don't close yourself off to the possibility of more. You may be surprised at what you find if you are willing to open your eyes and see it. I hold you close in my heart, as always. A million kisses, the sun and the moon._

_Daddy_

Despite the recent events in her life, including her shooting and Raph's departure, Mary had not allowed herself to cry. Not once. But now, with the realization that the little girl's dream of being reunited with her father was just that, a dream, the floodgates opened and she could no longer keep the sobs at bay.

She curled up in a ball on the bed and wept until there was nothing left in her, grateful for an empty house and the fact that Marshall wouldn't be stopping by to check on her.

As she calmed down, her thoughts drifted back to the last time she had let herself cry. That, too, had been a result of emotions surfacing because of her father and it had been Marshall that she had allowed to comfort her. She unknowingly let out a small sigh at the memory and pulled herself off the bed.

"Enough, Mary," she said as she made her way to the bathroom to splash water on face.

Walking into the kitchen, she was surprised to see Jinx at the stove.

"Mom?"

"Hi, Sweetie," she said a little too cheerfully, making Mary wonder whether her mother had heard her crying. Then, confirming her fears, her mother asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure? Is there any…" Jinx recognized the look on Mary's face and decided not to push her luck. Instead, she chose to take a chance with food. "Are you hungry?"

"Um, I don't think…"

"Don't worry," she said reassuringly as she held up the package. "I didn't make it. It's heat and serve."

"Well, maybe I could eat a little something," Mary conceded, knowing full well that there was a great possibility that Jinx could still screw it up.

Mary sat at the table while her mother finished heating up dinner.

"So, Mom, what were you up to all day today?"

"Oh, you know," Jinx said, evading the question.

"No, Mom, I don't or I wouldn't have asked."

"Well, things have just been a little difficult around here lately. I'm still not really sure what happened with Raphael…and I don't want to push you while you're still healing, but you and Brandi have barely said two words to each other all week. And not being able to help has been hard, so I went to meeting today and then was out looking for a job."

Mary stared at Jinx a moment, before saying, "I know it's been weird around here lately, but you shouldn't feel like you're stuck in the middle of it." She paused before adding, "I'm proud of you, Mom. For not drinking and for knowing when to go to a meeting." She stopped there, not wanting to get her hopes up that her mother may actually start contributing financially around the house.

"Thanks, Mary. That means a lot."

"And I'll talk to Brandi," Mary uttered, letting out sigh. "I mean, it's been a week. I can't imagine she's still that hung up on the Raph thing."

Jinx smiled, silently thanking Mary, as she placed the plates of food on the table.

Mary felt her stomach rumble from hunger and took a bite before continuing. "About Raph. It's not that I'm trying to keep anything from you and I'm sure Brandi told you her version, but that's not what happened. He tried to make me choose, Mom. He wanted me to give up who I am to be who he wanted me to be and I can't do it. I won't marry someone that won't accept me, won't love me, for me. I'd only end up resenting him in the end."

"Honey," Jinx said, clasping her hands together toward the sky as if in prayer, "all I ever wanted is for you to be happy. That's still all I want. And as much as I like Raphael, as good a man as I think he is, I don't want you to settle because you think that's what's expected of you. Or, God forbid, that you think you don't have any other options. There are always other options."

Mary was taken aback by the understanding and support in her mother's words. It wasn't something she had ever experienced before and she hoped that it was an indication that Jinx really was starting to turn her life around.

"Is that what they teach you at those meetings of yours?"

Jinx just smiled and shrugged as she took a bite of food.

"Cause maybe I should start going with you," Mary said, returning the smile.

The rest of the meal took place in a comfortable silence. Each woman lost in her thoughts regarding the recent and distant past events of the Shannon family. It wasn't until she starting clearing the table that Jinx spoke again.

"Are you sure you're okay, Sweetie? You just seem…preoccupied."

"Do you still have that letter from Dad that Lauren gave you?" Mary blurted out, taking Jinx by surprise.

"I...I thought you didn't believe Lauren was telling the truth," Jinx muttered as she recalled the events surrounding Lauren's visit.

"I didn't believe it, Mom. I still **don't want** to believe it. That Daddy could have gone off and had another family." Mary said, remembering how difficult that time had been and how she'd laid into Jinx for being so gullible. "May I see the letter, please?"

"Of course," Jinx replied after a moment, knowing that Mary had shared all of her letters and there was nothing in the letter that Mary couldn't see. "I'll be right back." But then, something stopped her and she turned back to her daughter.

"Mary, is this what has you so upset today? Have you been reading your father's letters?"

"What difference does it make if I have?" she said defensively.

"I just don't think it's healthy. Maybe it's time to let it go."

"You're one to talk, Mom."

"Exactly, Sweetie. I was making myself crazy over those letters and for what? Your father obviously moved on without us."

"Mom, the letter," Mary urged, indicating she was not ready to let it go.

"Okay, okay," Jinx conceded, going to get the letter.

Handing the envelope to Mary, Jinx sat down across from her and waited for her to read it.

Mary removed the letter, cautiously, almost as if she were afraid to read it. Unfolding it, her eyes scanned the words as her mind absorbed their meaning and she wondered what could have prompted her father to write such a letter after all these years.

"Mom, this is dated May 2008."

"I know. Your father wrote it, but obviously hadn't intended to actually mail it. Lauren said she found it in his pocket after he was in an accident."

"What kind of accident? Did she say if he was okay?" Mary asked quickly, concerned about her father and wishing she had taken Jinx seriously when she first mentioned Lauren. But how was she supposed to have reacted? There had been so much happening and she just honestly couldn't bring herself to even consider the possibility that her father had had another family. Especially one that he hadn't abandoned.

"She didn't say what happened. Only that he had some memory loss and took a long time to recover."

"So, he did recover?"

"Yes, but…"

"What, Mom? Tell me."

"She said that he had disappeared."

Mary stared at her mother as the meaning of her words sunk in.

It was those words, along with the many that her father had written, that haunted her thoughts that night, as she lay awake in the darkness of her room.

***

The next day, Marshall walked out of the Sunshine Building and breathed in the fresh air.

The previous evening with his new witness had ended up lasting well into the night, which Marshall had not planned on, and it had made him unusually cranky this morning. But it was Friday and now that Stan had given him the rest of the day off, he smiled as he walked to the SUV and thought about his lunch date with Mary.

'Just don't use that word with her,' he warned himself as he realized that was not the first time today he'd referred to it as a date. 'Cause you know she'll find a way to kick your ass, even if she isn't at full strength.'

His mind quickly conjured up some images of a smack down with Mary and laughing, he put the car in drive and headed in the direction of her house. He knew it was a little early, but figured she'd be glad for the company after having been left to her own devices the day before.

As he walked toward the house, he was almost bowled over by Brandi.

"In a hurry?" he questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Huh? Oh, sorry, Marshall," Brandi said, looking up from her phone to finally acknowledge him. "I gotta get to class. Just let yourself in." Then after taking a few steps, she turned around and yelled back sarcastically, "Have fun."

He stood for a moment, watching as she got in the car and pondering the significance of her remark. Then, filing it under one of the many curiosities that made up the Shannon women, he walked up the steps and let himself in.

Not seeing anyone as he entered, he closed the door and was about to call out when he heard Jinx's unmistakable voice echo from within the house.

"How is this helping?" she asked, sounding frustrated and annoyed. "Look at yourself, Mary, you're exhausted. You need to let it go."

Marshall wondered what kind of grief Mary's mother was causing her and assumed this was the reason behind Brandi's comment to him outside. He was debating as to whether he should intervene when Jinx spoke up again.

"Sweetie," she said in a much softer tone, "I just don't want to see you get hurt. Haven't you been through enough this year?" There was a brief pause in the one-sided conversation before she added, "Just please promise me you won't let this make you crazy and you'll get some rest."

Her words caused Marshall to take pause. He was surprised by the concern in Jinx's voice and suddenly worried about what Mary could be doing that would cause such a reaction on her mother's part. As he tried to decide the best course of action, Jinx appeared from the direction of Mary's room.

"Marshall," Jinx said, surprise and relief both evident in her voice. "Thank God you're here. Maybe you can find some way to distract her."

"From?" he questioned and instantly recognized his mistake as he watched a flash of realization cross her face. She began to wring her hands together nervously and he knew she wasn't going tell him anything.

"Oh, you know how she can be," Jinx responded with a wave of the hand. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I was just on my way out. Mary's in her room."

He cursed his stupidity as he watched Jinx scurry away and then he walked toward Mary's room, preparing himself for whatever he may find. Her door was partially open and he stopped before entering, deciding it was best to approach the situation as if the last five minutes hadn't happened.

"I hope you're decent," he threw out as he pushed the door open.

"No you don't, pervis," she spat back from inside the room.

Marshall smiled at her retort and took it as an invitation to enter. She was standing with her back to him, facing the bed and appeared to be gathering papers of some kind into a box. He was quickly distracted from them by the fact that she was wearing a pair of sweats that hung nicely from her hips and a tank top that revealed her lean, muscular shoulders and arms. There was nothing different about her outfit this morning from any other day he'd seen her this past week, but he couldn't help but take advantage of any moment she wasn't paying attention to admire her.

His admiration quickly changed back to concern, though, as she turned to face him and he saw the redness in her tired eyes.

"What are you looking at?" Mary snapped at him when she saw him studying her face.

"You," he shot back at her, knowing sometimes it was better to face her head on. "You look tired."

Mary just shrugged and turned her attention back to the task at hand.

"Well, didn't you sleep last night?" he asked, pushing her for an answer since it was obvious she was trying to ignore the question.

"Not really. What the hell are you doing here so early anyway?" she questioned, changing the subject in a classic move of avoidance that Marshall made note of for later, before playing along.

"My reward for being a good Marshal; Stan gave me the rest of the day off."

"You are such a kiss ass. What did you do now? All his progress reports for the week? Or did you organize and label the supply closet again?"

"I never would have had to touch that closet if someone hadn't gone and switched all the supplies into the wrong boxes in the first place," he said, glaring at her.

She just grinned.

"As a matter of fact, I spent half the night with the latest addition to our community."

"Not another nutcase?" she asked and Marshall nodded in agreement.

"Paranoid and delusional," he added.

"And some moron at the DOJ believes these are good qualities in a witness? Unbelievable, yet not surprising."

"True," Marshall agreed as they shared a knowing look. Then, he smiled brightly and plopped down on the bed. The crinkle of paper underneath him caught his attention and he shifted in his seat to reveal a stray envelope. He reached for it as he said, "But the upside is, barring any emergencies, I am now a free man for the next few days and all yours."

Marshall barely had time to process the fact that it was a letter before Mary was grabbing it from his hands with a glare. Making yet another note on his mental list designated for Mary, which seemed to be growing at an exceptional rate for so early in the day, he watched as she carefully placed the letter in the box she was holding and turned to put it the closet.

Grabbing the letter back from Marshall had been a reflex and as she put the box away she felt a small pang of guilt, which she ignored by turning her thoughts back to his previous statement. Her first smile of the day formed on her lips as she reached up into the closet, placing the box on the shelf. She'd gotten used to having Marshall around lately and was glad she didn't have to resort to asking him his plans for the weekend, but there was no way she'd ever let him know that. Instead, she composed herself and put on her best scowl, then faced him with her hands on her hips.

"So your reward becomes my punishment. Tell me how that's fair?"

"Aw, c'mon," Marshall said, feigning offense and a pout.

"Save it, Doofus. That sad, little puppy face of yours will not work on me. Now get the hell out so I can get dressed and then you can buy me lunch."

Impure thoughts crossed Marshall's mind as he reluctantly stood up to leave the room and he tried to shake them off. He knew he was in love with his partner, even before he'd almost lost her recently, he'd known it. But since Raph moved out, and he'd practically moved in, he was having trouble keeping his body in check.

It was simple enough to keep telling himself that he was only there as a friend, but every so often he forgot and would find himself watching her with a little too much longing or reaching out to caress her, only to catch himself at the last minute. 'Down boy,' he thought to himself as Mary's voice rang in his ears.

"Hurry up, numb nuts," Mary teased. "Unless you want a show?"

Marshall turned immediately and looked at her with a raised eyebrow, only to be met by a pillow to the face.

"Get out!" she hollered. "Or you'll be buying me dinner too."

He left the room wearing a big grin, unaware that his partner wore one that matched. But as he sat waiting for her, he began to work through the tidbits of information he'd gathered and tried to figure out what was bothering Mary. Despite their playful banter, she looked much more tired than she had two days ago and he knew something wasn't right.

**We are at the one week and counting mark for the Season 3 premiere. I'll keep posting a chapter a day and would love to hear your comments, so push the button and weigh in.**


	4. Chapter 3

On the phone with tech support about my new non-functioning properly laptop. So much for Windows 7, Gates! If I have to send it back, I'm telling them to keep it. Anyway, my point is I almost forgot to post the next chapter. I hope you are enjoying it and thanks for the reviews.

* * *

**Ch. 3: Food for Thought**

After taking her place in the passenger seat of the truck, Mary quickly lost herself inside her own head.

As happy as she was to be out of the house and going to lunch with Marshall, she was tired. She had spent a large portion of the night before on her laptop searching for more information about her dad and Lauren, but coming up empty. Finally, she had resolved herself to the fact that she would need access to a computer at work in order to find anything concrete.

So now, in addition to her preoccupation with her father, she was also struggling with how to proceed. It was going to be difficult for her to come up with an excuse to be at the office while still on medical leave. Stan had forbid her from stepping foot in the place and she wouldn't put it past him to have had her passwords blocked in order to ensure she didn't try to get back to work before being cleared, but Marshall would help.

Marshall.

He was always the one she relied on without a second thought, the person who had her back no matter what, and the only person she trusted completely. But the more she thought about him now, the less she liked the idea of having to ask for his help in regards to her father.

He had specifically asked her about her father, not all that long ago, and she told him she hadn't been in touch with him. And in her mind, that was true, she hadn't made any contact and had no idea where to find him, but she also knew Marshall would see that as a technicality. They both knew she had only told him about Lauren because she didn't believe the woman had been telling the truth. She had kept the letters to herself and now she could only see his potential reaction as another reason to keep quiet about them.

As they drove toward their destination, Marshall noted how Mary gazed silently out the window.

The quiet didn't bother him, they often drove for hours with neither one of them feeling the need make conversation. Despite Mary's teasing to the contrary, he only chattered on endlessly when he knew she needed a distraction or if he was purposely trying to annoy her.

Today, though, something was different. It was not a comfortable silence and Marshall could see from her body language that she was distracted and deep in thought, her furrowed brow and unfocused eyes being the most obvious tells. He wondered if her current state had anything to do with whatever Jinx had asked him to distract her from. It was times like these when he wished Mary were the sort of person that would willingly talk when something was bothering her. But, then she wouldn't be Mary. So, instead, he concentrated on observing her carefully and waiting for an opportunity to try and get her to open up.

"The Artichoke Café?" Mary said in surprise as they pulled into the parking lot. "I expected burritos at that dive on the other side of town. What's the special occasion?"

"Does there have to be one?" Marshall responded. "Can't a person just do something nice for a friend?"

Mary glared at him skeptically.

"Fine," he said, knowing she wouldn't let it go without more of an explanation. "I know this is your favorite place and it's your first time out since the…since you got home." Marshall still had trouble referring to the shooting. As a result, Stan had ordered him to see a psychologist, which was something he still hadn't told Mary. He tried to tell himself it was because he didn't want to make Mary relive it, but he knew he was the one that broke out in a cold sweat every time he thought about how close he had come to losing her. "If you'd rather a burrito, we can…"

"Oh no, you don't, Mister," she interrupted. "Just park the car already." She was genuinely touched by her partner's thoughtfulness and realized that it shouldn't surprise her. He was always going out of his way for people, especially her. Then, her stomach growled in anticipation of the meal, distracting her from thinking too much about Marshall's motives.

They chatted about the office and Marshall filled her in on the latest gossip, which Mary pretended not to be interested in. After ordering, the conversation made its way to their witnesses. Marshall was still trying to find a way to get Mary to open up about whatever it was that was bothering her and decided that maybe he needed to remind her of just exactly where his priorities lie.

"So, I was over at the Billup's the other day," Marshall stated.

"What happened? Is something wrong?" Mary asked, concern in her voice.

"Always assuming the worst," he scolded, waving a finger at her. "Everything is fine. Just a routine visit, but they asked for you."

"What did you tell them?"

"The usual…that you're injured and are on medical leave, but you're fine and will be back soon."

"Leo's okay? And Vernon?"

"No problems. Carter said everything seems to have worked out really well. Even their other kids are referring to him as Uncle Vernon."

"One big, happy family," Mary said quietly before drifting off, lost in thought.

"We got lucky with that one, huh?" Marshall finally said after a couple of minutes in order to get her attention. "It could have been a real nightmare."

"Do you regret helping?" she asked, remembering the position she had put him in when she had asked him to help her keep Leo from his father against the Judge's orders.

"No," he replied adamantly. "And I'd do it again. You made the right call, Mare. And even if it hadn't been, I still would have backed you up."

"Like with Eps?" she asked, knowing full well that her partner didn't approve of her little indiscretion, and rightfully so, considering that it had compromised her ability to protect Eps during the police investigation.

"Yes," Marshall assured her, his insides twisting as he thought about her former witness and he couldn't stop him self from adding, "but I'd rather not spoil my appetite by talking about it, if that's okay with you."

Mary opened her mouth to make a snide comment, but quickly checked herself. Her partner had been there through all the crap, on and off the job, and she knew it wasn't fair of her make light of things she knew would upset him. Especially, when the real truth was that she was just being flippant to try and keep herself from thinking too long or hard about her lapse in judgement.

He could tell that Mary had been about to say something and had prepared for the usual snide comeback, but instead he watched her expression grow pensive. As much as he wanted to find out what was going on with her, he also wanted her to enjoy lunch and now felt bad about his comment.

"Well, I guess if I was forced to pick, I'd rather deal with Eps than O'Connor," Marshall drawled.

She tilted her head and raised her chin to look at him in response to his remark, not sure where he was going with that particular train of thought.

"The hair," he quipped with a bright smile. "I can't be in a room with O'Connor for more than five minutes without wanting to hold him down while you shave off that ridiculous hair."

"Me shaving O'Connor's head," she repeated back to him slowly, before adding sarcastically, "**That's** what you fantasize about." Shaking her head and unable to suppress a snort, she added, "You really do worry me sometimes, Marshall."

He couldn't help but laugh and she soon joined in, composing herself a few moments later as she caught sight of the waitress headed in their direction, food in hand.

The meal began and silence settled between them, each becoming more and more distracted by thoughts and memories.

Jinx's words from earlier in the day echoed in Marshall's head as he thought about just how rough the year had been on Mary, and ultimately, him. But what he had told Mary earlier was true; looking back he couldn't regret any of his decisions to help her. In fact, there were never actually any decisions involved. The only thing that haunted him was her shooting and he was working through it, or so he hoped.

Meanwhile, Mary's thoughts had taken a similar turn. The past year was flashing through her mind, snapshots of anguish and heartbreak, so much like her childhood. The difference, now, being the fact that it didn't just affect her, but also the one person she had allowed into her life, her partner.

Mary was not one to be sappy or emotional, but it didn't mean she was unfeeling. In fact, she often had more emotions than she could handle, leading her to ignore them altogether so that she could function. But, being shot and having a near death experience hadn't been what she imagined it would be and didn't have the expected profound effect on her. What did affect her, were the reactions of those around her to what happened, leading to Raph's eventual departure and her partner's increasing presence in her life.

While she knew he mentioned O'Connor as a joke, the name rattled around in her brain until it eventually brought her musings back to that time. Looking across the table at Marshall, she recalled everything he'd done, even flying to New Jersey, in order to help her. He had done more than expected without question, then, and more times than she could count.

"Thank you," Mary said, breaking the silence and causing Marshall look over at her with inquiring eyes.

"You're welcome," he replied, slightly confused by the words that seldom escaped Mary's lips.

"I'm not talking about lunch, you moron," she said, picking up a fry and throwing it at him. "Although, now that I think about it, thanks, for lunch and for getting me out of the house."

"Again, dare I say, you're welcome," he responded, earning him another french fry, this time in the face.

"I'm trying to be serious, Marshall."

"Okay, I can do serious." He had had a witty rejoinder in mind, but thought better of it as he took in the look on Mary's face. Instead, he stayed silent, motioning for her to continue.

"I just want you to know that this past year, everything that happened, I know I wasn't the only one affected. You did things…"

"Mare…"

"I need to say this, Marshall, and I'm not very good at this kind of thing, so pay attention. I don't want to have to do it again."

He nodded and she took a deep breath before continuing.

"Thank you. You've gone above and beyond for me, and my undeserving family. And done more than any partner should be expected to do. I need you to know that I appreciate it, appreciate you."

The conversation was interrupted as the waitress stopped by their table and asked if there was anything else they needed. Marshall was sure he saw Mary breathe a sigh of relief at the intrusion, as he dismissed the young woman with the assurance that everything was fine.

He was moved by Mary's confession and faced once again with the urge to comfort her, and himself, in some way. Not being able to do so physically, he had to rely on words. He planned carefully, before speaking, hoping she would take his words to heart.

"I once heard a wise woman say that at the end of the day, all that matters is you and your partner." He watched as she recognized her own words and then met his gaze. "And that you stand by that person, no matter what, because that's what partners do." He wanted to remind Mary that she came first and he'd have her back, always, the job be damned, if that's what it took. She never needed to ask and thank yous weren't necessary. He felt guilty as he spoke, considering he hadn't been there for her at Francesca's, but he knew this wasn't the time for that conversation.

"You do realize you just called me wise," she said with a crooked grin as she held his gaze for a moment. "Maybe I won't sell you out for that Twinkie after all, partner." Then, she added sarcastically, "Not unless it came with coffee, anyway."

He matched her grin, but she could see the concern in his eyes. She had thought he had been about to say something, and tensed in anticipation of his words, only relaxing when he went back to concentrating on the last bit of food on his plate.

Instead of questioning him, Mary took his lead and finished her meal. She had already said more over lunch than she had intended and didn't want to take the chance of getting sucked into another serious conversation.

The sounds as the world passed by, combined with the hum of the engine and her full stomach, quickly lulled Mary into slumber.

Once outside of the restaurant, she had asked Marshall to take her anywhere but home. It had felt good to finally be out of the house and she was in no rush to get back. Not having a specific location in mind, she had told him to just drive.

He knew she was tired and it took all of ten minutes for her to fall asleep. He smiled as he glanced over at her sleeping form curled up into a ball on the passenger seat, her head resting against the window. Marshall couldn't resist himself and he reached over to tuck Mary's hair behind her left ear in order to expose a small portion of her face. He had known by her breathing that she was already asleep or he never would have dreamed of attempting such contact without permission.

Pointing the truck toward the desert, he left the city behind. They had nowhere to be and no one waiting on them, which meant there was no reason not to let Mary take advantage of the much-needed rest. Knowing she was safe and sleeping, where he could keep an eye on her, allowed him to relax as well; and he temporarily set aside any of his current concerns about his partner's behavior.

As he drove, the sun continued to slide lower into the afternoon sky and Marshall began to feel the effects of his lack of sleep the night before. Deciding he may as well catch a few winks himself, he pulled off the road along a canyon near Petroglyph State Park and found a spot facing South that afforded them a view of the coloring sky, as well as a panorama of the city.

Mary began to stir in her seat and stretched, as her mind worked to catch up to her waking body. Having shifted in her sleep, her head had fallen forward slightly and as she remembered where she was, she jerked awake, banging her head against the window.

"Son of a bitch," she cursed loudly, rubbing the side of her head.

"Wha…What happened?" Marshall stuttered; startled awake by Mary's swearing.

"Wake up, asswipe," Mary ordered as she smacked him in the chest with the back of her hand.

"Are you okay?" Marshall still wasn't sure why she had called out and grew concerned as he adjusted his eyes to the brilliant red of the set sun pouring through the windows.

"I'm fine. I just cracked my head on the window."

Marshall smiled at the thought of her hitting her head, earning him another smack to the chest.

"What the hell are we doing parked out here, anyway?" she inquired of him, grabbing her cell phone from her belt to check the time.

"You said to drive, I drove," he responded matter-of-factly. "And then I thought it was a better idea to pull over then fall asleep at the wheel."

"It's 6 o'clock!" She knew she shouldn't have been so surprised by the time based on the position of the sun in the sky.

"And?" He paused briefly as she glared in his direction. "Somewhere you need be?"

"No," she answered sarcastically. "You?"

"Me?" His smile brightened before adding, "I am exactly where I'm supposed to be."

Mary regarded him for a moment before looking back to the landscape and silence descended through the cab once again.

As Mary lay in the dark of her room later that night, she thought about her day with Marshall. For the first time since the shooting, she had actually let herself relax and just be, even putting the thoughts of her father aside.

She didn't trust anyone other than Marshall enough let her guard down the way she had this evening and she had been surprised by the pang of sadness she felt when it was time to head home. Not wanting to feel vulnerable, she spent the trip concentrating on rebuilding her defenses and she knew she surprised him when she refused to let him walk her in upon their arrival.

It had taken the promise of a phone call if she needed anything and agreeing to let him come by with breakfast before Marshall finally let her ease herself out of the passenger seat. Even then, she had felt his eyes on her as she walked up the path and into the house, where she watched him from behind the curtain until he finally pulled away from the curb five minutes later.

After locking herself in her room for the night, Mary decided that there was no way she was going to get her partner involved in another one of her family dramas. What she refused to think about, were the real reasons behind her decision. She told herself it was for his own protection, considering her father was a wanted felon, and that was reason enough.

As she waited for the hours to tick by, she continued to go over her plan for getting into the Sunshine Building while she tried ignore to the voice of her partner that seemed to have taken up residence in her head. He warned her not to do anything stupid. Whispering over and over again, 'Just tell me what you need.'

"God damn it, Marshall!" she finally cursed into the darkness, "Get the fuck out of my head."

And with that, she slipped out of bed and got dressed, before sneaking into the kitchen to grab the car keys and slipping out the back door.


	5. Chapter 4

And the countdown to the premiere continues, we're getting close!

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**Ch. 4: The Problem with Partners**

Marshall walked in the back door carrying enough breakfast for the week, much to Jinx and Brandi's delight.

"Where's Mary?" he inquired as he placed the bags on the table and looked around.

"Still sleeping," Brandi answered, eyeing the packages. "There's coffee."

"Really?" Marshall said surprised as held up his cup from the coffee shop, indicating he was already set. He reached into the cabinet for a plate to put the pastries on and turned back just in time to find Brandi about to reach for Mary's favorite treat. His glare had her sitting quickly back down in her seat, empty-handed.

He knew better than anyone that Mary was not a morning person, but it was already after 9am and that was late even for Mary, considering she was in no position to be out partying all night.

"Brandi," Jinx said, "Why don't you go tell Mary that Marshall's here."

"I'm not waking her, Mom. You do it. You know how she is in the morning."

"Please. She know Marshall's coming over, just go tell her he's here. Blame it on me if she gets mad."

"Fine, but I don't know why I always get stuck with the crap jobs around here," Brandi muttered as she stood up and headed down the hall.

From the corner of his eye, Marshall could see Jinx fidgeting nervously with the spoon from her morning coffee. She seemed anxious, even for her, and he wondered what was up. He hesitated to ask after he'd pushed her too hard yesterday. Instead of finding out what had Mary upset, he'd only caused Jinx to flee the scene. This morning, he gambled that if he turned his attention to laying out breakfast and ignored her, she would make the first move.

"Marshall?" she finally whispered, bringing a small grin to his face. Then growing serious, he looked up to meet her troubled glance.

"I…I think something's going on with Mary." She paused and leaned forward before continuing in her loud whisper, "I'm really worried about her and I don't know what to do."

Marshall knew there was only one way to deal with a woman like Jinx, so he relaxed his posture and leaned on the island so that their heads were mere inches apart. Then giving her a small smile of encouragement, he spoke softly saying, "Well, why don't you start by telling me what's got you so concerned and maybe I can help."

"It's just, well, I saw her sneaking back into the house early this morning," Jinx told him.

Marshall didn't know what he had been expecting Jinx to say and he watched her, expression unchanging, but unable to speak for a moment as he tried to process what he'd been told. He knew there was something up with Mary and he had spent the last 24 hours trying to sort it out. Not being able to come up with an answer, he had attributed her behavior to the fact that she was recovering from a gunshot wound and a broken engagement.

The engagement…Raph. A feeling of dread swept over him as the idea of Mary sneaking off to meet Raph formed in his mind. Remembering Jinx was waiting for a response, he took a deep breath and spoke.

"What do you mean _exactly_ when you say she was sneaking into the house? Is it possible she just couldn't sleep and had gone out back for some air? Or taking the garbage out?"

"I saw her put her car keys back in the drawer."

Brandi returned, stopping as she entered the kitchen to the sight of Marshall and Jinx tete a tete across the island. The sight seemed to surprise, and amuse, her.

"Well, well, what's going on in here?" Brandi teased.

With an understanding glance and nod of the head, Marshall reassured Jinx and she relaxed, knowing Marshall would do whatever was necessary to protect Mary. Even if it meant protecting her from herself.

A bleary-eyed Mary rounded the corner into the kitchen in time to catch Brandi's continued badgering of the couple in the kitchen.

"You go, Mom," Brandi cheered.

"Brandi!" Jinx scolded, blushing slightly despite knowing Brandi's comment was out of line.

"What's going on?" Mary asked, obviously not in the best of moods. She looked from Brandi to where Jinx and Marshall were, just as he moved to straighten up.

"I just walked in on Mom and Marshall," Brandi hooted.

"You just walked in on Mom and Marshall what?" Mary asked, looking for clarification and definitely not amused.

"Nothing, Mary," Jinx said, trying to dismiss Brandi's outlandish remarks.

"Didn't look like nothing to me," Brandi interjected.

"Brandi!" Mary and Jinx yelled in unison.

"Okay, sorry, jeez." Brandi held up her hands in defeat as she sat down next to her mother. "I guess nobody can take a joke around here anymore."

"Well, maybe if someone said something funny," Mary snapped as she made her way over to the coffeepot, snagging the pastry that Marshall was holding out to her as she passed him, glaring for good measure.

"Good morning to you too, buttercup," he sang, watching her hold her breakfast between her teeth as she poured the dark liquid into her favorite mug.

His greeting was met by a series of mumbles and he wasn't sure he really wanted to know what she was saying.

"I said what the hell are you two conspiring about so early in the morning," Mary repeated after removing the food from her mouth.

"It's not early and we're not conspiring," Marshall stated, meeting her gaze.

Mary simply regarded him without responding and then motioned for her sister to get up so she could sit down.

***

The day passed in a series of misunderstandings and arguments for Mary and Marshall.

After breakfast, Marshall cleaned up the kitchen while the ladies of the house prepared for their respective days. Jinx and Brandi, wearing clothes that almost made Marshall blush, left in a frenzy for a shopping spree sponsored by Peter. Calm once again descended over the house as Marshall waited for Mary to shower and dress.

He remained preoccupied with the information from Jinx about Mary's disappearance during the night and the more he thought about it, the more convinced he became that it had something to do with Raphael. It was like a tiny seed had been planted in his head and it was now growing like a vine, infiltrating his every thought, until he couldn't think about anything else. And he felt betrayed.

He had spent all his free time with her since her fiancé had left, making sure she had what she needed and was healing properly. Mary was his best friend and he cared about her, wanted to be there for her. Yes, it was true his feelings for his partner went way beyond just partnership and friendship, but he wasn't some schoolboy and he didn't believe jealousy was the source of his irritation. A true friend wouldn't go sneaking around.

Or would she?

It was then it hit him like a ton of bricks and he was more convinced than ever that Mary was seeing her ex-fiancé again. The only other time in their partnership that he remembered her outright keeping things from him and blatantly disregarding him was when she had gotten engaged and then exposed their positions within WITSEC.

Marshall felt like a fool and then became angry as the thoughts continued to swirl around his head and he knew that the last place he should be, at the moment, was near Mary. But he had promised to be her driver for the day and wouldn't go back on his word. So he bit his tongue and hoped for an emergency at work.

After her shower, she came into the kitchen to find him slamming cabinets and drawers as he cleaned up.

"I don't think that's a fair fight," she quipped as she watched him abuse her kitchen.

"What?" he snapped back harshly.

"What the hell are you yelling at me for asshole? You're the one beating up on my kitchen," she threw back as she stared at him with her hands on her hips.

"Not like anyone would notice," he said under his breath in regards to the fact that she still hadn't made any repairs to her house since the FBI ransacked it.

"Jesus Christ, Marshall. What the hell?" Mary spat in disbelief. "Were you possessed while I was in the shower?"

"I'm fine," Marshall lied, trying to keep his tone in check. "Didn't you say you had errands to run today? We should probably get going."

"Well, I don't want to put you out or anything," Mary said sarcastically as she tried to figure out what had caused the extreme change in her partner's demeanor so quickly. Remembering the scene from breakfast, she began to wonder just what it was he had been discussing with Jinx.

"No, It's fine. I'll wait for you in the truck." Marshall walked passed Mary and outside without another word, leaving her staring after him, dumbfounded.

The rest of morning passed with little said between the partners.

The fact that Mary had been spending her nights obsessing over finding her father and not sleeping had finally started to take it's toll. She was tired and moving much slower today, but refused to let it show. Marshall had made his annoyance with her obvious, but he wasn't talking and she stubbornly refused to get sucked into whatever game he was playing. So she forged ahead, crossing things off her list and trying to get it all done as quickly as possible so she could get home and away from Marshall.

She still had no idea what had caused her partner's attitude, they had been spending all their time together and seemed to be getting on fine. Thinking of their lunch and outing the previous day, a small smile formed which she quickly banished in favor of a scowl.

'If he wants to act like a 2 year old, fine.' She had more important things to think about and forced all thoughts regarding her partner to the far recesses of her mind.

She winced slightly as she climbed up into the SUV after their last stop and ignored Marshall's inquiring glance as to whether she was okay. Instead, she concentrated on her plans for that night, which involved sneaking into the Sunshine Building in order to use a computer to try and track down Lauren, and ultimately, her father.

Earlier that morning, about 2 a.m., after she was sure Jinx and Brandi had gone to bed, she had grabbed her car keys and taken a ride. If she was going to get to the office, she needed to be able to drive, despite the fact that her Doctor's orders restricted her from driving for another three weeks. It was less than a ten-minute drive off-hours and she couldn't see the harm in it, but had taken a test run just to be sure. Arriving home without incident, she had convinced herself she was up for the task, refusing to acknowledge that today's aches and pains could be an indication otherwise.

They arrived back at Mary's in the early afternoon to find Jinx home, alone, since Brandi had gone to show off her purchases to Peter.

Mary, without a word to her mother or Marshall, hurried as best she could through the kitchen and to her room, slamming the door behind her. She collapsed on the bed in exhaustion, fighting back tears of aggravation and pain. Refusing to give in, she slowly sat up and reached for her medication, cursing at the sight of the empty water bottle on the nightstand. As she stood to make her way to the kitchen, she put on a brave face and hoped that Marshall hadn't hung around.

Marshall had gotten out of the truck and followed Mary as far as the kitchen. From there, he heard her bedroom door slam and sighed as he turned to find Jinx looking at him questioningly.

"Are you home for the afternoon?" Marshall asked, frustration evident in his voice.

"I don't have anywhere to be," Jinx responded with a shrug.

"Good. Do me a favor and call me if she tries to leave? I'll have tonight covered so that you can rest without worrying."

"You're not staying?" Jinx questioned, obviously concerned. "Did you find out anything?"

"I'm not sure. Can you just call me?" Marshall wasn't sure how he felt after the long and awkward morning. He knew he was the one that caused things to spiral out of control with his attitude this morning. He was jealous. He couldn't deny that any longer. He was jealous and scared. He didn't know how long he could go on constantly feeling like he was about to lose Mary in one way or another, either to Raph or to…his hands started shaking as they always did when his thoughts turned to her shooting.

Placing his hands on the counter to steady them, he looked over at Jinx as she nodded in agreement to his request.

"I…I just have to go," he said hesitantly as he watched Jinx's eyes widen and focus behind him. He took a deep breath and turned to see Mary standing behind him.

"Well, what the hell are you waiting for asshole, just go already," she spat, refusing to look at him any longer, she slowly made her way toward the fridge.

"Mary!" Jinx hollered, not understanding what was going on or why her daughter would be talking to Marshall that way.

Mary simply scowled at her mother and continued on her mission. She heard her Jinx finally leave the room, but hadn't seen the reassuring glance and nod that Marshall had used to send her on her way.

"Mary…"

"No, I don't want to hear it," she screamed, cutting him off. "I don't know what the fuck your problem is and you know what, I don't really care." Grabbing a bottle of water, she closed the fridge and looked him in the eye. "Whatever's got you so pissed off at me, forget about it. I am not your responsibility and don't need a god damn babysitter!" Taking a breath, she started toward her bedroom and said in a much quieter voice, "Just go, Marshall."

He watched her walk past and was torn. A part of him wanted to stay and apologize, turn the clock back the day before so they could sit and enjoy the sunset, both content just to be in that moment together. But he hadn't forgotten that she was lying to him. Again. And staying and pretending that it was okay, that it didn't matter, wasn't an option this time. It was because of the chaos in his head and softness of her tone that he almost didn't hear her final statement.

"Because you all leave, eventually." The words were left hanging in the air as she disappeared down the hall.

The gravity of the situation hit him and he feared that he might have gotten carried away with his assumptions earlier in the day regarding Mary. He quickly made his way to the edge of the room and could see her nearing her door.

"I'm going, Mare," he called after her, "but it doesn't mean I'm leaving."

He watched her close the door behind her, then turned and walked out of the house.

***

Marshall parked down the street from Mary's house and waited.

As soon as he'd gotten Jinx call that she was heading to bed, he'd made the short trip across town toward Mary's place and hoped to God that he was making the trip in vain. He was still cursing himself for his childish behavior earlier in the day and wished that his partner wasn't so capable of driving him so absolutely insane.

The thought of just how crazy she did make him actually brought a smile to his face as he laughed to himself, but he sobered quickly at the thought of how much damage control was going to be required. There was no way he was getting off easy after today and Mary's comment about him leaving had hurt. He couldn't believe that after everything they'd been through together that she would really think him capable of walking away so easily.

He took a swig of luke warm coffee and tried to refocus. He'd been waiting for over an hour and knew he'd just get himself worked up again if he kept replaying the day in his mind. Instead, he concentrated on his breathing and tried to relax. That was when he spotted the tail lights emerging from Mary's driveway.

Noting the clock on the dash read 12:11 a.m.; he waited until she reached the end of the block before pulling out without turning on his headlights. It wasn't until they had left her neighborhood and were pulling onto the main road that Marshall finally hit the lights. He was trailing far enough behind her and there were enough cars on the road to hide him that he felt comfortable, especially since he didn't believe that Mary would even consider the need to look for a tail.

As they passed the turn off that would have led to Raph's apartment, Marshall could feel the built up tension in his neck ease. He hadn't been aware of it until that moment and enjoyed the sense of relief that swept over him before becoming curious as to Mary's destination.

A couple of more turns and Marshall realized that they were approaching the office. The idea that she could be going to work took him totally off guard and he couldn't imagine what she was up to that she felt the need to sneak into the building in the middle of the night. He watched her pull into the parking lot and then drove past, circling around the block and stopping to make sure she wasn't still in her car before pulling in and parking next to the probe.

Mary's body protested with every step as she climbed the stairs to the top floor of Sunshine Building. She had nearly given up her plan for the night when her aches and pains had made getting out of bed a chore. She hadn't slept, yet again, but she had given in to the need for rest and laid down for a couple of hours. Maneuvering to the bathroom and attempting to dress, she had forced her body into submission and forged ahead with her plot. But now, she was questioning her decision.

Reaching her destination, she stopped to catch her breath before leaving the stairwell and entering the office. She had taken the stairs on the slightest chance that someone may be in the office due to an emergency and didn't want the elevator to alert them to her presence. Thankfully, the office was dark and empty so she swiped her keycard and made her way to her desk. The couple of low lights that were left on at all times gave off enough light that she didn't need to turn on any others. She sat down and signed on to her computer, anxious about what she may find.

After having given Mary a ten minute start, Marshall chose the stairwell for the same reasons she had, but being in good form, took the steps two at a time. Reaching the top, he opened the door only enough to allow him access and he eased quietly into the elevator lobby. He watched her for a minute, hunched over her computer, scanning the monitor for information.

Not wanting the beep of his keycard to alert her to his presence, he leaned against the cool metal of the door and spoke.

"I had no idea you were so dedicated."

Mary physically jumped at the voice and reached for her back up weapon as Marshall keyed himself in and walked through the door.

"Jesus Christ! Are you trying to get yourself killed, moron?" she snapped.

"Me?" Marshall shot back. "I'm not the one that's on leave and sneaking around the office in the middle of the night." His anger was back. Her being there didn't bother him as much as the fact that she was carrying her weapon before being cleared did. It was bad enough that she hadn't been following the Doctor's advice, now she was disregarding policy as well.

"Wait a minute," Mary said, her brain finally registering the fact that her partner was in the office. "What the hell are you doing here? **Did you follow me**?" She was seething with anger. Marshall had been a total prick to her that morning, then had walked out and left her. But now here he was, following her. "Who the fuck do you think you are?"

"Are you serious?" Marshall responded to her question with a question and tried to control his tone. "I'm your partner, Mary. Your best friend, for Chrissake. And the fact that you are here in the middle of night, carrying your weapon…Jesus, Mare, just what the hell are you thinking? Are you trying to get yourself suspended? Or worse?"

His tone had grown harsher as he spoke and he moved toward her, wanting to grab her and shake some sense into that stubborn head of hers. But he stopped short when he saw her take a step back to steady herself. Meeting her gaze, he knew his emotions were starting to get the better of him, but continued anyway.

"God, Mary. You've been kidnapped, shot and almost died in the past year." Marshall started choke on the words. "Maybe you don't care, maybe it doesn't bother you, but do you ever stop to think about the people that lo…" He stopped, unable to finish for fear of losing control.

"Don't give me that bullshit, Marshall. You made your feelings perfectly clear earlier today." Mary's surprise and anger at her partner's presence, along with her quick movements, were causing her head to spin. She had felt light headed as she watched Marshall move toward her and had to step back to steady herself by grabbing hold of her chair. Her vulnerability was making her defensive. "Just leave me alone."

"No way I'm leaving you here alone," he responded, noticing how pale her face looked and how she gripped the chair. "Can you even stand up?"

Marshall reached out a hand to offer some support, but Mary pulled away, not willing to give him the satisfaction of accepting his help. Unfortunately, in her haste, she moved a little too quickly and began to fall. Thanks to her partner's quick reflexes, he was able to get an arm around her and ease her to the floor.

"Mary." Marshall said, kneeling and taking her head in his lap. "Mary, can you hear me?" his voice growing as was his concern when she didn't answer. Getting no response, he checked her pulse. It was slow, but not at a point of being dangerous and she was breathing steadily. After making sure she wasn't running a fever, he decided she must have finally ridden all her defenses into the ground and her body could no longer handle the stress.

He took off his coat and placed it under her head while he printed out the information from her computer. Then, with a few keystrokes he logged Mary off and using an administrative password, he cleared her history and any record of her having been in the office that night.

After grabbing the papers, he scooped Mary up in his arms just as she was starting to come to, but he knew she would be in no condition to fight him. He was not surprised by her attempts, though. And under other circumstances, her weak fist to his chest and groggy orders to put her down would have amused him.

As he carefully placed her in the backseat of the SUV, he could see that she was once again on the verge of losing consciousness. He climbed into the driver's seat and made a mental note to call Jinx in the morning to let her know Mary was with him and to make sure someone collected the probe before Monday morning.

Pulling out of the parking lot, he pointed the truck toward the Interstate and drove west until they reached Gallup, NM. It was 3 a.m. and he'd been driving for two hours, constantly reaching behind him to make sure his sleeping partner was breathing without a problem.

Knowing he needed to get some sleep as well, and not wanting to have a confrontation with Mary in a moving vehicle, he pulled off the highway onto Route 66 and found a motel. He regarded Mary's sleeping form and briefly debated the best way to proceed. The last thing he wanted to do was wake her, but he wasn't going to leave her to sleep alone in the car, either.

Finally accepting that there was no alternative, he was thankful he remembered to request a room on the first floor and he gathered her up in his arms. She started to shift and he was fearful of what may happen if she woke up while in her current position. But instead, she mumbled something unintelligible and wrapped her arms around his neck before drifting off again.

'Damn, she must be really exhausted,' Marshall thought as he lay her down on the bed. Removing her shoes, he decided it was better not to touch her clothing. Instead, he grabbed the extra blanket from the motel closet and draped it over her.

"Sleep tight," he whispered, examining her face as she slept. Even in slumber, she didn't look peaceful and he wasn't happy she hadn't been taking care of herself. As he thought more about it, he just couldn't understand how she'd managed to survive all these years without someone around to keep an eye on her.

Shaking off the thoughts, he left the room to retrieve their go bags from the truck, grateful Mary had kept hers in the probe despite being on leave. Then he headed to the bathroom to clean himself up before crawling into the other bed and passing out almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

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**So, you think Mary's gonna be pissed? And Marshall, he'll probably have something to say too. ****Push the button, I'd love to know your thoughts? **


	6. Chapter 5

**Posting a little later than usual today, but sometimes life just gets in the way. **

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**Ch. 5: Waking Up is Hard to do**

Mary stretched and rolled onto her stomach, gripping the pillow tighter as she did so. She sighed in contentment and was just about to let sleep wash over her again when she woke with a start. The first thing she noticed was the familiar white of motel sheets, followed by the unfamiliar bed and the fact that she was still fully dressed.

'What the fuck?' she thought as she pulled herself up onto her elbows, 'What am I doing in a motel?'

Pulling the covers back, she sat up and looked around. That was when she saw him sleeping in the other bed.

Marshall.

She could only see his left shoulder and the upper part of his arm that was holding the pillow over his head as he lay on his stomach, but it was unmistakably Marshall. The last thing she remembered was arguing with him at the office, but after that, nothing. What did come flooding back, though, were the memories of the day before and with them, all the anger.

She leapt out of bed and lunged at him, pushing and cursing.

"Wake the fuck up, asshole! Who the hell do you think you are?"

Marshall pulled his head out from under the pillow, his hair pointed out in every direction and even Mary would have taken a moment to appreciate how cute he looked if she wasn't so mad. Instead, she shoved him again.

"On second thought, dickwad, why don't you start by telling me why I'm in this freakin' motel?"

He looked up at her, a curious expression on his face, as if he had no idea what she was talking about and it pissed her off even more. She lunged again, but this time he was prepared. He reached up and grabbed her by the wrists, catching her off guard and pulling her off balance. She tried to break his hold, but only ended up falling across his lap, still restrained.

Glaring green eyes met steel blue ones and they squared off, each assessing, waiting for the other to make a move. Mary knew she was in no condition to take on Marshall, especially considering he already had the upper hand. But, there was no way in hell she was just going to concede, either, and she decided to rely on skills other than strength to overcome her captor.

He watched warily as the anger was replaced by a mischievous gleam in her eye, one with which he was all too familiar.

"I don't know what you're cooking up in that pretty little head of yours," he drawled, eyes locked on hers, "but I would think carefully if I were you."

"And why is that?" she asked in a soft, alluring tone that elicited a crooked smile from her partner. Then, she shifted in his lap to regain her balance and settled back down, straddling him, eyes dancing with victory as she saw him swallow hard.

Marshall had to stifle the groan in the back of his throat as Mary positioned herself on top of him. He could see the look of satisfaction on her face and he thought with a grin, 'Two can play at this game.'

"Because you never know, Mare, when the tables may turn." With that comment and quick jerk of his hips, he flipped her onto her back and pinned her arms to the mattress. He saw the surprise register on Mary's face and he smirked as he leaned down to whisper in her ear, "and you'll have to decide if you want to finish what you started."

She hadn't been expecting such a response from Marshall, but what shocked Mary more was her body's reaction to his. His voice was low, almost a growl and the suggestion in his words, undeniable, causing her temperature to rise. At the same time, the warmth of his breath in her ear sent a shiver down her spine that culminated in an aching desire, her body arching in response.

Marshall's body reacted in kind as he gazed down at her. Their faces mere inches apart and his control wavered as Mary tilted her head back slightly and parted her lips. But when he felt her pelvis push up against his, he lost all ability for coherent thought.

She felt a small pang of discomfort from her still recovering abdominal muscles and it brought her back to the present. Sobering, she realized she could use her injuries to her advantage and purposely winced as she came to her senses and tried to free her hands once again.

Despite his current state of arousal, the change in her expression did not escape her partner's notice and he shifted quickly to remove his weight from her.

"Oh God, Mare, are you okay?" he asked with worry as he sat up, easing his grip on her wrists. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

As soon as she was able to move her arms, she pulled them free from his hands and pushed him as hard as she could, sending him off the edge of the bed. He stumbled back, but thanks to his quick reflexes he was able to recover without falling on his ass.

Mary rubbed her sore abdomen, as the many fights turned make up sex with Raph flashed through her lust addled brain. Hell, the first time she'd met him had almost resulted in bar fight, but had ended in the bedroom. For Mary, anger becoming arousal was not something new when she was attracted to someone.

'But this is Marshall,' she thought as she met the deep blue eyes of her partner. 'Marshall.' Her thoughts wandered to all the times they fought and she couldn't help but wonder if this had been there, just under the surface, the entire time.

"What the hell was that for?" Marshall barked, not at all amused by Mary's scheming.

"To get you off me, jackass!" she spat, getting up and in his face. "Now are you going to tell me where we are or have you decided to switch teams and are starting with kidnapping?"

He looked at her as she spoke and took a step back, wondering how it was possible that she could run so hot and cold. Remembering his own part in the nastiness of the day before, he realized she was not entirely at fault. Frustrated with the entire situation he turned away and mumbled, "I should have left you passed out on the floor."

"_**What**_ did you say?" she asked, tilting her head as she glared at him.

"Does it matter what I said, Mary?" he answered, his irritation evident as he grabbed his pants and pulled them on. "You do what the hell you want, when you want. Consequences be damned." He slid into his shirt and picked up his jacket, pulling a sheet of folded paper from the pocket, he let it fall onto the bed near Mary, as he stalked out the door into the morning sunshine.

She stared blankly at the closed door for a second, wondering how things had gotten so horrifically out of control between them in only twenty-four hours. Then she scooped up the paper and unfolded it as she sat back down on the bed.

***

Marshall stood outside the door to the motel room with coffees and donuts in hand and took a deep breath before taking out his keycard. He'd left almost an hour ago and just walked, wishing that he'd been more prepared for the trip and had brought his running gear with him.

This morning's encounter with Mary had been playing in a constant loop in his head and he still felt the tension in his neck, even after the long walk and fresh air. He berated himself for thinking that he was being clever when in reality, he had let Mary suck him right into her little game this morning. And that's what he'd spent the last hour concentrating on, the fact that it was just a game and he, of all people, knew how good Mary was at playing games.

It didn't matter what he saw in her eyes or the heat he felt her body radiate when she moved underneath him because none of it was real. Actually, that wasn't true. She'd stripped him of his ability to think clearly, which allowed for his body to react. And damn, had he reacted. He'd spent the past couple of weeks trying to keep his body in check around Mary just to lose control now and have it all go to hell.

As he stared at the number on the door, he doubted that he had allowed enough time for Mary to cool down, but if they were going to continue on their way, they would need to get going. There was still a long drive ahead. If not, he preferred to get home sooner rather than later in order to put this whole mess behind him, although he had his doubts as to whether that was even possible.

Having had decided not walk into the impending onslaught unarmed, he'd stopped in a nearby donut shop on his way back, picking up her favorites as usual. The only thing left to do was to swipe the key and open the door.

She glanced over as he entered the room, coffees one hand and his key in the other while a bag dangled from between his teeth. The eye contact may have been brief, but it was enough for him to see the struggle behind them. As he moved to place the items on the table, he noted that she was sitting on the bed where he'd dropped the print out, which she now held tightly in her hand. He doubted she'd let it out of her grasp since his departure.

"You're taking me there, aren't you?" she asked softly, eyes still on the paper.

He studied her closely, trying to discern her state of mind. A screaming, cursing, even physically abusive Mary, he knew how to deal with. A quiet, introspective one, however, was a whole different ballgame and he knew he needed to tread lightly. He had no desire for a repeat of the day before, but one step in the wrong direction and things could get nasty pretty quickly.

She knew he was watching her and not receiving an answer, she tilted her chin and met his gaze. The concern she saw in the intense blue eyes shouldn't have surprised her, but it did and as he nodded yes in response to her question, she could feel the tears building. Cursing her emotions, she put the paper down and stood up as she rubbed her hands over face, wiping the moisture away.

Grabbing her overnight bag from the top of the dresser, she headed toward the bathroom.

"I'm going to get cleaned up," she said, pausing before the bathroom door.

"No complaints if the coffee's cold," Marshall joked and was rewarded with a half smile before she disappeared.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Marshall sat down and picked up his coffee. He was thankful that any further arguments had been avoided and hoped that they were on course to getting back to normal.

'Yeah, like there's ever been anything _**normal**_ about the two of you,' he chuckled to himself, pulling the donuts out of the bag and placing Mary's favorite on a napkin next to her coffee. He pulled out the complimentary newspaper that he'd grabbed from the motel lobby and scanned the morning's headlines as he slowly sipped his coffee, glancing every so often at the bathroom door.

Checking his watch, he knew that fifteen minutes was not an unreasonable amount of time to have passed, but even when they weren't at there best, his concern for his partner never wavered. Hearing the click of the bathroom door several minutes later, he instinctively looked up from the paper and was met by the seriousness in her expression. Knowing it was not a time to push, he let his eyes fall back down to the words on the pages in front of him.

Mary exited the bathroom and dropped her bag on the bed as she made her way over to the table to join Marshall. When she sat down, she was not surprised to find her favorite donut sitting next to her coffee, but it did cause her to take pause. Marshall was always there for her with exactly what she needed, often before she even knew what she needed, and she could no longer ignore that.

She was still confused and angry about the way he had behaved toward her the day before, but she also knew that she had just reacted as she always did and not taken the time to try and figure out what was really going on. But that was her; react first and think later. She had simply pushed back in an effort to push him away first and now she couldn't believe she had actually been stupid enough to think that he would leave. The paper lying on the bed was only the latest example of what he'd do for her.

'Jesus, Mary, what's it gonna take for you to finally believe he's not going anywhere?'

The crinkle of the newspaper as he folded it up pulled her out of her reverie and she realized he was watching her. Picking up her coffee, she tilted it toward him in gratitude before taking a sip. Considering they were in the middle of nowhere, she hadn't been expecting much from the dark, caffeinated liquid, but it's less than stellar flavor was only intensified by its lukewarm state and she couldn't help but grimace when she pulled the cup away.

"How's the coffee?" Marshall asked with a snicker.

The tone in his voice did not go undetected and she shot him a glare for good measure, but made no argument to the contrary. Instead, she reached for her donut and took a large bite as she watched him try to hide the smile on his lips. Not being able to conceal it, he picked up his own donut and joined her.

They sat in companionable silence as they finished breakfast. It wasn't until Marshall moved to clean up that Mary put her hand on his arm to stop him. Looking up at him, she spoke.

"What happened last night?"

"What's the last thing you remember?" he asked as he sat back down, wondering just how much she didn't remember and if there was reason to be concerned.

"I remember reaching for my gun when a certain moron mistakenly tried to sneak up on me," she recalled, her voice laden with sarcasm.

Her answer was enough to put to rest his fears of any serious health complications since she obviously remembered everything up until right before she lost consciousness. While that saved him the trouble of having to explain, it also meant that she was fully aware of all that had occurred yesterday and at some point, they would have to talk about it. He just hoped it wouldn't be now.

"I believe that lead to some discussion about said gun and the fact that you were armed and in the office while on medical leave." Marshall played off of her sarcasm and tried to fall back into the banter, but he knew the issues they needed to discuss were serious and he hoped she was aware that.

"Blah. Blah. B.S. B.S. What else you got?"

"Let's see," Marshall said, suddenly feeling very tense. He stood up and threw away the garbage from breakfast before turning back to Mary. He was not at all happy about her making light of her medical condition, so he took a deep breath to steady himself before continuing. "There's the fact that you fainted because you haven't been following the doctor's orders or taking care of yourself."

"I didn't faint!" she insisted.

"Oh, really? Okay then, passed out. Lost consciousness. Blacked out. Collapsed. Languished. Pick whatever word you prefer, Mary. I was there. I was the one that caught you and the reason that we don't have to add concussion to the list." Marshall hadn't realized that he was now towering over Mary as she sat looking up at him from her seat at the table, her expression unreadable.

He took a step back and ran his hand through his hair in frustration. This was not how he'd wanted this to go. It was just so frustrating to him that she could be so careless with her own health. Didn't she know that he…that people needed her?

"Why didn't you come to me?" he asked, turning to her, a myriad of emotion present in his brilliant, blue eyes as they searched hers for answers. "I'm your partner and your best friend. If I haven't proven my loyalty to you by now, Mare, then I honestly don't know what else I need to do." Breaking their gaze, he began to move about the room gathering his things. "All you needed to do was talk to me."

"The way you talked to me yesterday?" she spat, not knowing any other way of dealing with all the thoughts and emotions that were battling it out inside her. The man stalking around the room infuriated her at times. Everything he said was true, but she knew she wasn't the only one that didn't speak up.

Marshall froze and looked at her incredulously.

"That's right," she continued. "I haven't forgotten about yesterday, so don't you get all high and mighty with me after you spent the day acting like such an asshole without a goddamn word as to why."

"Well, maybe if you had talked to me in the first place, I wouldn't have had to hear from Jinx that you're not taking care yourself," Marshall said, coming to his own defense. "Or how you sneak out of the house and drive off in the middle of the night when you're not even supposed to be driving."

"You had my mother spying on me?" Mary couldn't believe what she was hearing and never thought that she would have to deal with something like that from Marshall.

"No," he stated calmly, knowing if he didn't diffuse the situation, it would get ugly. "I would never do that. Your mother came to me because she was worried. And it's not like I hadn't noticed that something was off. So don't try to turn this on me when the fact is you are hiding something from me. Yes, I let my imagination get the best of me and made an assumption I shouldn't have; an assumption that made me angry. And for that, I'm sorry.

But you know, as well as I do, Mary, that you had no intention of letting me in on your plans. Jesus Christ, do realize all the things that could have happened during your little outing last night? Forget about all the trouble you could have gotten into to. Have you even thought about what could've happened if you had passed out in the office alone?"

She opened her mouth to speak, but stopped, not knowing what to say. All she ever did was react and lash out, she didn't want to do that this time. Most, if not all, of what Marshall had said to her was the truth and he even admitted to being sorry.

'Sorry for what?' she thought, 'What assumption had he made that caused him to get so angry?' Lost in contemplation, she hadn't heard Marshall calling her. Finally snapping out of it, she looked over to see him standing by the door.

"What?"

"I said that I'll meet you in the truck." They locked eyes momentarily; Marshall puzzled over where Mary's thoughts had drifted that she didn't hear him. Mary broke the gaze first, afraid to reveal too much. Then he added, "I'll let you decide which direction we head in."

Picking up the print out from the bed, she nodded in response. She wasn't sure if she was prepared for what she would find, but she knew there was no way she could go home until she had some answers.

"Marshall," she called out to catch him before he shut the door.

He stopped and peered back into the room, eyebrows raised questioningly.

"What assumption did you make?" she asked, looking over at him.

He hesitated and swallowed, then taking a deep breath he answered. "I thought you were sneaking out to meet Raphael."

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**So do you think Marshall realizes what he just admitted, or more importantly, does Mary? And just where are they headed to anyway?**


	7. Chapter 6

**Big thanks to sfchemist for her attention to the details and for helping me clear up some confusion with these last 2 chapters. **

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**Ch. 6: The Long Road to Rialto**

Mary sat staring out the window as the desert passed her by. It had been two hours since they had headed west on I-40 and two hours and five minutes since either of them had spoken.

The last thing Mary had said was when she had climbed into the SUV and stated that she wanted to keep going. Marshall had simply nodded and remained silent ever since, lost in his own thoughts and unaware of how the last words he had uttered to Mary were driving her to distraction.

_"I thought you were sneaking out to meet Raphael."_

That statement, in and of itself, would not have bothered her the way it did if it hadn't been revealed in connection with something Marshall had said earlier.

_"…an assumption that made me angry."_

Mary had spent the better part of the past two hours trying to come to terms with the fact that her partner had just admitted that the idea of her sneaking off to meet her ex-fiancé made him angry. A logical reason was that he was just concerned and didn't want her doing anything that might hinder her recovery. He was also her best friend, so not wanting to see her get hurt emotionally by hanging around a guy she knew was not good for her was also not unreasonable.

The problem was that as believable as both those explanations were, nothing seemed to soothe the nagging feeling in her in gut. Pulling her legs up to her chest, she wrapped her arms around them and rested her head on her knees, facing the window and away from her partner.

Trying to ignore her increasingly confusing emotions about the man in the driver's seat, she focused on the purpose of the trip. While she hadn't gotten very far in her search at the office, she had been able to pull up a current address for one Lauren Shannon Hefferman in San Bernardino, CA and that was the information that Marshall had found on her screen and printed out.

She had let out snort on seeing Lauren's middle name and wondered if the woman had any idea about the origin of her name prior to her trip to Albuquerque. Mary was actually surprised that her father had taken such a chance of exposing himself and questioned his intelligence, wondering how he managed to keep off the radar all these years.

Her musings turned once again to her father, not surprisingly considering he had become an obsession over the past few days. After Jinx had revealed that he was he was missing, again, Mary had latched onto the idea. Based on the fact that he had never returned to her, she assumed that the same would hold true this time. She hadn't allowed for any other possibility. But now that they were on the way to see his new family, she began to worry about what they might find and how she would react if this time he actually had come back.

After spending all the years since her seventh birthday dreaming about the day she would be reunited with her father, the idea of it becoming a reality was something she didn't think she was prepared for. In fact, she knew she wasn't prepared for it. It would mean learning the truth, whether she liked it or not. No more secrets and no more fantasies. She was already having problems with the truth killing her fantasies as never once did she imagine him having a new family. But then again, she had never imagined that Marshall would be at her side either.

Suddenly she felt like her brain was on a merry go round and kept circling back to the same thoughts. No matter what else whirled around inside her head, every time it came back to Marshall. He was right when he said that she wouldn't have told him her plans. Despite the fact that he'd proven himself over and over again, professionally and personally, gaining her trust in a way that no one else in the world had, she would still have come up with excuse after excuse not to tell him.

The bond she shared with her father was her last line of defense. It was the only secret she had left and what she held onto when nothing else in the world made any sense. It made her feel loved and special and without it, she was afraid she'd fall into a million pieces and never recover.

Over the past few years, Marshall had somehow pushed and pushed until he was able to worm his way into her life. She hadn't even realized it at first, not until the Horst incident, just how important he had become and how much needed him in her life. And in that moment, she knew if push came to shove, she'd have to choose between betraying her father's confidence or risk losing her partner; and it scared her to death.

She felt the car begin to slow down and extracted herself from her fetal-like position as she looked over at Marshall.

"Need gas," he said, pointing his chin toward the gauge on the dash. "Besides, it's lunch time and I thought you might be hungry."

She knew him well enough to know that what he really meant was that he was hungry. Still, she accepted the gesture for what it was; a means of reopening the lines of communication. Their partnership couldn't work, didn't work, unless they were in sync. Even though this was a personal matter, they each had a role to play and they had both been silent long enough.

"I guess I could eat," she answered, throwing him a half smile and stretching her limbs, hoping that her stomach wouldn't growl as she realized just how hungry she was.

Mary walked into the truck stop to get them a table while Marshall filled the tank of the SUV. Ordering coffee for both of them, she sat in a booth near the window and watched him run his hand through his hair in frustration as he talked into his cell phone.

After Mary had left him alone at the gas pump, Marshall had decided he would use the time to call Stan. It was already Sunday afternoon and they wouldn't arrive in California until evening, so he knew he wouldn't be in the office the next day. As he considered what they were going to be doing, he decided it was highly unlikely that they would head back to Albuquerque before Tuesday, if not later, and their boss was not going to be happy. He hit the speed dial; glad Mary was out of earshot.

"Stan," stated the voice at the other end of the phone.

"Hey Stan."

"What happened? I thought you were going to be entertaining Mary this weekend. Please don't tell me we have an emergency," Stan said, knowing full well that he should have expected that his first Sunday off in a month would be interrupted.

"No, it's nothing like that," Marshall offered.

"Is Mary okay? Any complications?"

Marshall didn't answer immediately. It wasn't that he was at a loss for words, but more that he couldn't tell Stan much of anything without compromising his position as Chief Inspector.

"Marshall?" called a concerned Stan, "Is Mary okay?"

"She will be, Stan," he answered, even though he was not entirely convinced it was true. "There's just something that she has to take of and it means going out of town for a few days."

"Where? And how is she getting…you're with her, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"How long?"

"Tuesday night, Wednesday the latest," Marshall replied, hoping it wouldn't take them any longer.

"And this is really necessary?" The growing irritation is Stan's voice began to rub off on Marshall, whose nerves were already worn thin.

"This can't wait, Stan, and you know there's no way in hell I'm letting her take off on her own in her condition. She's still recovering from…" Marshall hesitated, still not able to verbalize the shooting and cursed himself, knowing Stan wouldn't let it go. He ran a hand through his hair and continued. "After what happened, I'm not going to let her go off and risk her health when she can't seem to bother to even try and take care of herself.'

Stan was well aware of the bond between his two Inspectors and as long as they were getting the job done, he chose not to think about what the future may bring. He had witnessed how difficult Mary's shooting nad been Marshall, but sensed from the strain in the voice on the other phone that there was something else going on. Trusting them to work it out and knowing neither of them would listen to him anyway, he decided to let it go, for now. There would, however, be some serious discussions upon the younger Inspector's return.

"So help me God, Inspector, if there are any emergencies with any of your witnesses…"

"Thanks, Chief." Marshall was genuinely grateful to Stan and felt guilty for having snapped at him.

"And Marshall, I'm serious about the psychologist. If I find out you're not going…just don't make me order an official psych evaluation."

The connection went dead and Marshall put his phone away as he climbed into the SUV and moved it to a parking space before joining Mary inside.

"Everything okay?" Mary asked as he sat down, looking at him expectantly.

He answered with a look that said, _are you crazy?_ Nothing was okay. Not them, not this situation and he couldn't believe that she had actually asked that question.

She pursed her lips, knowing he was right, and picked up her menu without another word.

"I talked to Stan," Marshall finally said after the waitress had taken their order and refilled their coffees.

"Bad?"

"I got it covered," he shrugged.

***

They had been back on the road for an hour and the meaningless conversation and light banter that they had fallen into over lunch had quickly subsided.

Mary knew her partner well and had seen the struggle going on underneath the façade of useless facts and annoying anecdotes he spouted while they ate. It worried her and the sickening feeling she'd had when she read his offer letter from Peterson was forming in the pit of her stomach. She was momentarily beset by doubt. What if she had finally pushed him too hard this time and he was trying to find a way out?

'No, he promised,' she thought, refusing to accept that possibility. Not wanting to jump to conclusions as she had the first time, she focused on their partnership. Disjointed thoughts drifting across her mind as she began to doze off.

"_I'll try not to die, for you."_

_"Tell me what you need." _

_"That's my girl." _

_"What about what you want?"_

_"I hope you know that I love you."_

She woke with a start as the memories came flooding back to her and it was all suddenly so clear. It would be easy to claim that she'd been oblivious to what had been happening, but she knew that wasn't the truth. The truth was that she had ignored it and hid from it in hopes that it would just go away. That he would get bored and move on, proving her right; it wasn't real and never lasted. They all left.

She glanced over at her partner, her best friend and the man that hadn't left. He must have felt her eyes on him because he turned to meet them just as she was overwhelmed. Worried about losing control, she turned away before he could see the tears that were threatening to spill over. She could run into battle with guns blazing, but when it came to her personal life she wasn't nearly as brave and it took her time to muster her courage. What she did know was that she needed to start somewhere and that meant telling Marshall about the letters from her father.

"Marshall," she said so softly that he almost didn't hear her over the hum of the engine.

"Tell me what you need," he responded, knowing something was up by the tone of her voice. During lunch they had behaved almost as if nothing was wrong, pushing everything aside for a brief respite, and it had been nice. Once back in the truck, however, Mary had become pensive and when she looked at him a minute ago, he could have sworn she was on the verge of tears.

"What I need?" she huffed. Then growing serious, she continued, "Someday soon, we are going to talk about that. But for now, there's something I need to tell you and I don't think you're going to like it."

Any relief that Marshall felt at the idea of Mary finally opening up to him was crushed by the last part of her statement. He remembered the day he found out about her engagement and couldn't imagine her telling him anything that would make him feel worse than he had on that day. But then again, this was Mary and he knew anything was possible.

"Do you remember when we were working to get the charges against Brandi dropped and I got upset at Eleanor because I didn't want to believe that Lauren could be my sister?"

He nodded. It was not a day he would ever forget. While he had no desire to relive the events surrounding Brandi's arrest, it was one of the rare times that Mary had dropped her guard and opened up to him, even allowing him to hold and comfort her.

"Well, I wasn't totally honest with you when you asked me about my father," she said rapidly, looking straight ahead and not at Marshall. She could see his hands, though, out of the corner of her eye and saw them shift on the steering wheel, only to grip it tighter.

"Since we still have a few more hours before we get there, why don't you explain to me exactly what it was that you weren't honest about." It was taking every ounce of energy he had to remain calm. He wasn't sure what had changed that made her willing to come clean, but he knew getting angry now would just make her close up again.

"You were right about the possibility of being able to find my dad influencing my decision to join the Marshal Service, subconsciously anyway. It's not _**why**_ I joined, but I've definitely thought about it on more than one occasion. I just never actually got up the nerve to try." She felt as if some of the weight she'd always carried around was starting to fall away and turned to face him before continuing. "I've always been afraid of what I might find. I still am. I just know that it's time to let the little girl grow up and stop pretending that he's going to show up one day and fix everything."

"Good for you, Mare. I know it can't be easy and I'm proud of you." Marshall stated, looking at her reassuringly before returning his eyes to the road.

"Well, you might not be by the time I've finished saying what I have to say." While not too serious in tone, her lack of sarcasm gave credibility to her words.

"I'm not going anywhere," he told her, "so maybe you should just say whatever it is you're trying to say."

"It's true that I never contacted my father or had any idea where he was, but," she paused and took a deep breath, then spit out the words before she could change her mind, "he's sent me letters over the years. The last one arrived the day I moved into the house."

"You've gotten letters…from your father," Marshall repeated slowly to make sure that he had heard her accurately.

"I know I should have told you, Marshall. It's just the letters have been arriving randomly since I was seven years old, most of them before I ever became a Marshal. In fact, the one that arrived when I bought the house was the only one I've gotten during our partnership." She paused and searched for something to say to make him understand. "I mean, we hadn't even been partners all that long."

"Don't," he said, holding up a hand for her to stop. "Don't make excuses. We'd been partners for a year and a half and I already considered you a friend at that point, but maybe you didn't feel the same way."

"Of course we were friends," she interrupted.

"Then do me a favor and save the excuses," Marshall said. He was hurt, not only by the fact that she kept something so important from him, but also because she tried to make light of their friendship. By that point in time, there was no way she should have doubted his loyalty. "Tell me the real reason behind keeping it from me or don't say anything at all."

"What was I supposed to do, Marshall? Go up to my partner, a United States Marshal, and say_ by the way, my fugitive father has been keeping tabs on me my entire life and even sent me letters. You want to read them?"_ She wiped the tears away angrily, "Jesus Christ. How the hell was I supposed to do that? Put you in that position?"

If there was one thing Marshall did well when it came to Mary, it was reading between the lines and it only took him a few seconds to realize what she wasn't saying. She was in pain and he understood why.

"It wasn't really about your father or me, was it?" he spoke in a tone that was almost soothing and she turned to look at him, eyes wet and questioning. "The only one you were protecting was youself."

"What the hell are you talking about?" she snapped defensively.

"You were so upset about Lauren and the fact that your father hadn't told you," he continued calmly, not letting her attitude phase him. "Honestly, I should have known there was more to it, I was just…"

"Just what?"

"Nothing, it's not about me. It's about the fact that your father was writing to you all these years, probably giving you his opinion on your life; telling you how much he loved you, how important you were," Marshall's anger began to rise at the thought of Mary's father putting her in such a position. Filling her head with the idea that she was his entire world when that obviously wasn't the case. "He abandoned you, Mary. Left you to take care of your mother and sister when you should have been playing and just being a little girl. It wasn't fair to you and it was wrong of him to try and ease his conscious by feeding your fantasies about how much he cared."

"He did...does care," she choked.

"I know you want to believe that and if I could make it be true for you, I would. But the truth is, he left you behind and got himself a new family. No matter how many letters he wrote or the amount of times he said he loved you, nothing can change the fact that he moved on without you while giving you hope for a future that was never going to happen. It was selfish and wrong and no man should ever do that to his child."

Marshall didn't notice the effect his words were having on Mary until it was too late. When he cast a glance in her direction, he was surprised to see her sobbing. Reaching over, he gently rubbed the back of her shoulder in attempt to comfort her. He wanted more than anything to take her in his arms and tell her everything would be okay, but he couldn't.

He understood his words had hurt her, but she needed to hear them. He couldn't let her go on believing that her dad was some lost hero, some victim of circumstance, when he was just a selfish man who had abandoned his family. It would take time, but he was sure that given the time to work through it, Mary would eventually see that. The only thing he could do in the meantime was watch her back and be there to catch her when she fell. And she would fall; there was no doubt in his mind. Until then, he'd wait and be ready to help her put the pieces back together when the time came.

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**Only a few days left to the premiere, I hope I can get this wrapped up in time. Now it's time for you to push that button again.**


	8. Chapter 7

**Again, thanks to sfchemist for her ideas and BuJyo for listening to me whine. The finished product is un-beta'd, so all mistakes are my fault. This just seemed like the place to end this chapter, but even with an extra chapter, we should finish up in time for the premiere. 48 hours to go!**

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**Ch. 7: A Family Portrait**

They arrived in San Bernardino at 6:30pm. Being exhausted, emotionally and physically, didn't stop Marshall from setting a course for Lauren's. As he parked across the street from her building and killed the engine, he took a moment to observe Mary. It was obvious to him that she had lost ground in her recovery and he hoped this trip didn't set her back even further.

Turning his attention to the dusk colored sky, he watched in silence as it grew darker and waited for a sign from his partner that she was ready. Despite the increasing heaviness of his lids, he forced his eyes to focus and surveyed the surrounding area until her movement caught his attention. Following her lead, he climbed out of the truck and they met on the street. The conviction was evident on her face and he knew she was ready as she turned and faced the apartment complex.

"You sure you want me tagging along?" Marshall asked, despite the fact that he didn't like the idea of Mary going inside on her own. It bothered him that she would feel like she was alone in this when she wasn't; he was right there and would be as long as she let him.

"Yeah, like you're not dying to check out my sister," Mary said, missing the mark of sarcasm as she braced herself for the confrontation with her half-sister, but she continued anyway, adding, "I've see the way you look at Brandi, you perv."

Marshall just raised an eyebrow in response and shook his head. The truth was that there was only one sister Marshall would ever seriously check out and she was standing right next to him, but even in jest, he would never attempt such a retort.

"C'mon, I think we've been out here long enough, might as well get this over with," Mary said, as she took a deep breath and headed toward the building across the street.

She stopped in front of the apartment and hesitated before knocking. The idea that she was so close to getting some answers about her father seemed surreal and scary. While she knew she couldn't go back now, a part of her wondered if she wasn't better off holding onto the dream instead of facing the reality. Unfortunately, the dream had already been shot to hell, so she may as well face the truth in the hopes that it would help her move on.

After a minute, she raised her hand and rapped on the door, then stood shifting her weight from foot to foot while waiting for a response. When none came, she knocked again, louder this time, blowing the air out of her lungs in frustration. Another moment of silence and she looked at her partner in frustration, but unable to hide from him the flash of relief in her eyes. Without a word, she nodded in the direction of the street as she moved past him.

"_**Mary**_?"

They both stopped dead in their tracks as they looked down the path toward the source of the surprised voice.

"Oh my God, Mary! What are you doing here?" Lauren said as she moved to hug her.

"Lauren...hi," Mary responded, Lauren's embrace making her uncomfortable.

Marshall watched the exchange, unable to find his usual amusement in Mary's social ineptness, as he was dumbstruck by the physical similarities of the two women in front of him. He didn't know what he had expected. Honestly, he hadn't really thought about it, but any doubts he may have had regarding Lauren being Mary's sister were now quickly banished.

"Lauren," Mary said, remembering Marshall's presence, "this is my par...friend, Marshall."

"Hi," Lauren said with a smile as she held out a hand to Marshall. She wondered what Mary had been about to say before she corrected herself and introduced the man as a friend. Remembering Mary's laundry-bearing boyfriend she'd met in Albuquerque, the relationship of the couple in front of her piqued her interest even more.

"Nice to meet you, Lauren." He accepted her hand, matching her smile with one of his own and glancing at Mary, knowing the glare she wore was meant for him. She had obviously seen him staring at Lauren and he made a mental note to clarify his reasons later, maybe.

"What are you doing in California?" Lauren asked, reiterating her earlier question now that an introduction had been made.

"Look," Mary began, "I know you're not my mother's cousin's friend's daughter." She glanced at Marshall and saw him raise an eyebrow at her statement. She knew he was filing it away for future reference.

"Um, maybe we should go inside," Lauren responded as she passed between Mary and Marshall in order to reach her door and the partners each noted the furrowed brow as she walked by.

Once in the apartment, Lauren deposited her bag and laptop case on a table near the door and motioned for them to come in.

"Please, sit down, can I get you anything? Something to drink?"

Mary was busy taking in her surroundings. As she made her way to the couch, she cataloged the photographs framed on the walls, landscapes next to cityscapes, and wondered if the occupant had taken them. The place was eclectically furnished and not to Mary's tastes, but it was relatively clean and from the little she knew of Lauren, she felt it suited her.

"No, thank you. We're fine," Marshall responded, knowing that Mary was taking inventory. He was able to catch her eye when Lauren turned away briefly and motioned for her to sit down.

"So?" Lauren said with questioning eyes as she sat down in a chair across from them, one leg pulled up to her chest, foot dangling by it's heel off the edge of the seat. Wrapping her arms around her leg, she waited for a response.

"I read the letter you gave my mother. She told me Daddy was in an accident and then went missing," Unable to resist, Mary added sarcastically, "**_again_**."

Lauren nodded, but didn't say anything.

"Did he come back?"

Shaking her head no, Lauren thought about Mary's presence after all this time. She had genuinely liked Mary when she met her in Albuquerque, even though their meeting had been brief. It was obvious that the secret of them sharing the same father was out, yet should could tell that forming a sisterly bond was not the reason behind the sudden visit. Lauren decided she needed to tread carefully until she had more information.

Mary shifted uncomfortably at Lauren's silent responses and the idea of her not being cooperative. She wasn't in the mood to have to pry information out of the woman. She thought back to the day that Lauren left her house and the odd connection she had felt at the time. Not understanding it, she had blocked it out. Now, she realized that a small part of her had been hoping that connection was still there.

"Have you heard from him at all since he disappeared?" Mary's voice growing more impatient. "A phone call? Email? Anything?"

Marshall noticed Mary did not ask about a letter, but he let it go as he eyed Lauren carefully for any change in expression or body language. When there was no immediate reaction to the questions, he knew she was hiding something and wondered if Mary picked up on it as well.

"No, nothing," she eventually responded, a little too defensively as she stood up. Staring at Mary with her hands on her hips, she asked, "_**Have you**_?"

"If I had," Mary replied, looking to Marshall to help steady her temper, "then I wouldn't be here. I'm just trying to find out what happened to him." She took a deep breath and continued. "Please, Lauren, I'd appreciate it if you could tell me everything you remember about his accident and the time surrounding it."

The room was quiet and tension filled the gap between them as Lauren sat back down and contemplated what to do. They could almost see the wheels turning in her head and Mary's impatience grew, the seconds feeling like minutes. She was about to push her harder when she felt Marshall's soft touch on her arm. It both distracted and calmed her; and looking in his direction she saw him shake his head, almost imperceptibly, as he met her gaze. Understanding, she sat back on couch reluctantly.

"Lauren," Marshall spoke just loud enough to get her attention. "We're not the enemy. I promise you. The last thing we want is for anyone to get hurt and we'll do our best to keep that from happening. All we want to do is find out what happened to James. Anything you can tell us, even the smallest detail that you may think insignificant, may help."

As Lauren studied Marshall, she remembered Brandi making a comment about Mary carrying a gun. Knowing that Mary hadn't been made aware of who she was, it was a detail she'd dismissed until now. Her half-sister was obviously in law enforcement and from the way the pair in front of her interacted, she presumed they were partners.

It _was_ possible that the woman just wanted to find their father, maybe have a chance to talk to him after all these years, but there was also another possibility. Lauren's trip to find Jinx Shannon had revealed that her father was a fugitive, a fact she still struggled to accept, and Mary was a cop. If Mary's own mother and sister felt it necessary to keep the information about James a secret, why should she say anything? What if Mary held a grudge and wanted to see their father pay for leaving her all those years ago?

"I honestly don't know how much help I can be," Lauren uttered, deciding to give Mary the benefit of the doubt, for now. She would choose her words carefully in answering questions and not volunteer anything else until she could be sure of Mary's motives. "But I'll try to answer any questions you may have."

While not thrilled by the apprehension still present in Lauren's voice, Mary accepted the bone she was throwing their way. "The best thing would probably be to start with accident. Had he been acting odd before that?"

"No, not that I know of, but I was also doing a lot of traveling at the time and was only home for very brief visits."

Mary, understanding she was going to have to work for the information, hunkered down and diligently ran through the list of questions in head, while she let Marshall observe Lauren's body language and make mental notes of her answers.

Lauren answered the barrage of inquiries, one by one, and slowly began to let her guard down as her respect for Mary and the original connection she had felt to her blossomed and restored her confidence in the woman's objective. She didn't believe that Mary was out for revenge against their father for walking out on her, an idea that still seemed so far fetched to Lauren when she thought about the man that had raised her.

When Mary finished her inquiries, Marshall checked his phone and pointed out to her just how much time had passed. It was approaching 9pm and they had been there for almost 2 hours. As they got up to leave, Mary was trying to think of what to say when Lauren spoke first.

"Wait. I'll be right back."

After watching Lauren disappear down the short hallway, Mary and Marshall exchanged a look as they waited for her return.

"What do you think she's doing?" Mary whispered.

Marshall just shrugged before asking, "More importantly, how are you doing?" His concern ever present in his eyes and she was grateful for his presence.

"To be honest, I haven't really stopped long enough to think about it yet." She answered honestly as she threw him a tired smile.

"Well, when you're ready…"

"I know," Mary responded before he could finish. She knew he was there, would be there, when she was ready to talk.

Lauren appeared again holding something in her hand. "I haven't lived here very long and most of my stuff is stored at my parent's house, but I do have this," she said as she held what they now realized was a photo out to Mary.

Mary tentatively moved to take it, the slight shaking of her hand evident only to Marshall and he instinctively took a small step closer to her as she closed her fingers around the item.

Marshall's behavior had not escaped Lauren's notice and it distracted her briefly as she wondered if all law enforcement partnerships were similar to Mary's and Marshall's. It was obvious they were close and she assumed that reading each other's thoughts was an important part of the job. Her musings were cut short as she was drawn back to the present.

"_Daddy_." The word escaped her lips in a sob before she could stop it and Mary berated herself.

"Mare?"

"I'm fine, Marshall,' she said, choking back the tears and regaining control of her emotions as best she could. "Lauren, doesn't your family live in the area?"

"Yes, but..."

"I understand they don't know about me," she said, holding up the family portrait in her hand, "and that you want it to stay that way. Honestly, I have no desire to be the one to tell them about our father's colorful past. It's just that we're only in town for a couple of days and it may be my only chance to meet them, to see what my father's life has been like all these years. Couldn't you just say I'm an old friend that's passing through and wanted to say hi?"

"It's just my sister's away at school and I never know what my brother's up to..." Lauren paused as she focused on Mary. She regarded her struggle to contain her emotions and saw the almost pleading look in her eye. She couldn't imagine what Mary had gone through after their father had left and it wasn't fair to deny this simple request. "I'll call them and see what I can do. Can I get in touch with you later?'

"Sure. You can reach me at this number," Mary said, handing Lauren her card. "We haven't found a motel yet, so I don't have that number."

"If you head south on the main road there are a bunch of places to stay. Most of them are decent and you'll know the ones that aren't," Lauren joked as she took the card and put it in her pocket, trying to ignore the title of United States Marshal she had seen embossed there.

"Okay, thanks," Mary said as she handed the photo of smiling faces back to Lauren.

"Oh, you can keep it...if you want."

"You don't mind?" Mary asked, surprised by the gesture.

"No, it's fine," Lauren assured her. "I can get another copy."

***

When Marshall walked in with the pizza and six pack of beer, he found Mary sitting on the bed, leaning against the headboard and staring at the picture of the Heffermans. He knew everyone had varying degrees of issues when it came to their parents, but Mary's were more traumatic than most, consuming her life from a very young age and his heart ached for her.

Setting the items down, he made his way over to her. She looked up as he sat down next to her on the edge of the bed and all he could see was a scared, little girl. Reaching up to tuck her hair behind her ear, he realized the contact probably soothed him more than it did her.

"Pictures are just a snapshot in time, Mare," he whispered as he gently extracted the photo from her hand and placed it on the night table. "Just because things look perfect in that moment, doesn't mean that they always are."

She held his gaze for a moment before looking away and wiping the wetness from her eyes.

"So, what's for dinner?" she asked, sliding past him to get up from the bed. An evening of pizza, beer, bad movies and Marshall suddenly seeming like the best medicine in the world.

He caught her arm as she stood up and slid his hand down it to take hers. She stopped, but didn't turn to face him. She didn't have to, she knew what he wanted, but she wasn't ready to talk. She just wanted to forget, at least for a little while.

"Can we just forget about all of it and just be us?" she paused, then looked at him over shoulder and added, "For tonight, anyway."

"Yeah," he said, smiling up at her, "I'd like that."

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**Mary finally confronted Lauren and Marshall was well, Marshall. What did you think?**


	9. Chapter 8

Premiere day! We made it! My apologies for no update yesteday, these things happen in life. There is only one chapter to go, so if all the stars align, there is the possibility I can get it up before the show airs. If not, tomorrow. Thanks again to Bujyo and sfchemist for all the support. Not beta-ed for grammar, so give a girl a break if I missed anything. Enjoy!

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**Ch. 8: Father Doesn't Always Know Best**

"What time is it?"

"About ten minutes later than the last time you asked," Marshall drawled. "There's plenty of time, we're not going to be late."

"I didn't say we were going to be late," Mary snapped back.

Marshall glanced over at the passenger seat to see Mary sitting stiffly with her arms folded across her chest. She was tense and it was understandable considering she was on her way to the house her father had lived in all these years, raised three other children in. As he returned his eyes to the road, his thoughts drifted to the night before and he couldn't help but smile.

Mary's suggestion for the evening had turned out to be exactly what they both needed; an escape from the latest Shannon family drama and a way for them to reconnect. It had been just like any other night they had spent on the road with pizza, beer and bad pay per view minus the fact that they didn't have to be concerned about a witness in the next room. It allowed Mary to relax and he followed suit.

Things were far from perfect, that he knew. The past few days had been filled with hurt and anger followed by truths and confessions, which had all definitely taken their toll. It would take time and today would help him gauge just how much time. Last night, though…last night restored his faith that in the end, they'd be able to make it through this, just like they had everything else. And just maybe, they'd emerge even stronger than before.

She tapped her foot nervously on the floorboard of the SUV and stared blankly out the windshield. The last thing she wanted to do was to snap at Marshall, but she was wound tight and she was fairly certain he would understand. Not even on their most dangerous assignments had she felt like this and she needed a way to calm down. Her facial features softened a bit as she focused on Marshall, instead of the impending meeting, and she was glad he was there with her. In fact, the idea of him not being there was something she never wanted to think about again.

The thought startled her and she shifted in her seat. Over the course of the last few days, she had been forced to face more than one hard truth, including her feelings for Marshall and his for her. One would think it would be simple from that point, but it seemed anything but as far as Mary was concerned. Not only did she need to find the nerve to admit her feelings out loud; she also needed to summon the courage to accept that someone truly loved her, for her.

There was only one other time in Mary's life that she had felt so completely loved and that was when she had been with her father. Thinking about it now, her heart ached at the possibility that her father hadn't loved her as much as she thought and the idea that she was about to meet the family he'd spent a lifetime with in comparison to her was overwhelming.

"Marshall," Mary gasped, leaning forward to put her hands on the dash to steady her.

"What's wrong?" Marshall said, alarmed by Mary's behavior. "Mare?"

She was trying to regulate her breathing and just shook her head at him.

He pulled the car to the curb and threw it into park. Jumping out, he ran around and opened her door. She was hyperventilating and he didn't want to start asking her questions she couldn't answer. Instead, he placed one hand on her arm and the rubbed her back with the other.

"I'm going to ask you a few questions and I just want you to nod your head yes or no, okay?"

Mary nodded yes.

"Are you getting any oxygen?"

Again, she nodded.

"Do you lungs feel tight?"

Another nod.

"Is it getting any better?"

She shook her no.

"Worse?"

A shake no.

"Listen to me, Mary," Marshall said, trying to soothe her. "I just want you to listen to the sound of my voice. Don't think about anything else, but my voice and breathe. Just keep breathing." Marshall continued to reassure her for another minute or so and she slowly showed signs of improvement.

Mary finally drew her arms back from the dash and sat back in the seat with her eyes closed. Nothing like that had ever happened to her before and losing control was something that did not sit well with her.

"How you doing?" Marshall said after giving her a few moments. "Better?"

Not ready to talk yet, she simply nodded.

***

It was a typical Californian, suburban neighborhood. Similar houses lined the block, all well kept and Mary couldn't imagine what it was like to grow up in such a place. For her, it was a place that only existed in those 1980s teen flicks, the house where the good girl lived or the cool kids partied.

"Are you sure you're feeling okay?" Marshall asked her one last time. Her panic attack had taken him by surprise and he'd been concerned ever since. He considered telling her that she didn't have to go through with it or that they could postpone the meeting until another day, but the sideways glare she shot him said it all. "Just promise me you'll tell me if don't feel well."

Her gaze was drawn once again to the house and she made no reply.

"Mary," he said sternly, "promise me."

"Fine…yes, sir," she returned sarcastically. "I promise."

Climbing out of the truck, they made their way up the path. They'd only gotten a few feet when Lauren appeared in the doorway, then made her way out to greet them.

"Did you find a decent place to stay last night?" Lauren asked, making light conversation.

"Yeah, the uh...what the hell was it?" Mary asked, turning to Marshall.

"The Best Western," he replied, shaking his head. For all the details Mary could remember, the things she did forget often amazed him.

Turning her attention back to Lauren, she asked, "What did you tell them? I mean, about who we are?"

"Not much, just that I met you on one of my trips to New York a few years ago. You called to say you were in California for a few days and wanted me to meet your _boyfriend_. And since I was going to be at the house, I figured I'd just meet you here."

"Well, lucky me," Marshall cooed with a stupid grin as he snaked his arm around Mary's shoulders in response to being called boyfriend.

"Can it, numb nuts," Mary scolded as she pushed his arm off her and swatted him in the stomach with the back of her other hand. Marshall feigned being hurt and Lauren watched the entire exchange curiously.

"Let's do this then," Mary stated, nodding toward the house.

They followed Lauren into the house, Mary moving cautiously with Marshall right behind. He was thankful to Lauren for having given him the title of boyfriend because it allowed him to stay at Mary's side without needing a reason or excuse.

From the front hall, Lauren pointed out the family room to the left and the formal living room on the right. The hallway ended in a kitchen that was not modern, but by no means dated either and Mary noticed how clean it was. After examining the kitchen, she glanced at the formal dining room, which was also along the back of the house. The front of the kitchen opened into the family room and the back had sliders to a patio.

They weren't shown upstairs, but Lauren told them there were four bedrooms. It was exactly how Mary would have pictured such a house. She would have liked to believe that it had been cleaned and straightened up in their honor, but as soon as she saw the thin, well groomed woman in a business suit enter from the back of the house, she knew that was not the case.

The woman that stood across from her in the kitchen thrived on neatness and organization and Mary immediately envied Lauren. She was sure that the Hefferman children had always been taken care of and looked after as children; clean and well dressed and never without lunch money. Again, a world that Mary could only relate to from what she'd seen in movies and on television.

"Hello," the woman said after looking Mary and Marshall up and down. The greeting was pleasant enough, so Mary assumed Mrs. Hefferman was at least satisfied with her first impression of the pair.

"Mary, Marshall, this is my mother, Gail Hefferman." Lauren made the formal introduction and Marshall noticed how she stood a little more rigid as the words came out. There was no informal greeting between mother and daughter and he thought it odd.

Mary moved to extend her hand to Gail. "Hi, I'm Mary Sheppard and this is my…boyfriend, Marshall Miller." She had hesitated at the word boyfriend. It felt strange to her to use that word in reference to Marshall, but realized it didn't feel strange in a bad way. Shaking off the thought, she returned her attention back to the room.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Hefferman," Marshall said with a big smile as he extended his hand to the older woman.

"Please, call me Gail," the woman said, obviously taken with Marshall.

Mary gave him a quick glare and worked to suppress a snort; he was such a kiss ass. It was then she realized that what was bothering her was the fact that she felt the need to have this woman's approval and she didn't understand why. 'Shouldn't she be looking for my approval?' she questioned herself. 'She doesn't know who you are, Mary, remember that,' her subconscious replied in response.

Just as Lauren suggested they all move out to the patio, her mother inquired about her brother.

"Most likely in front of the mirror," Lauren replied sarcastically to her mother.

"If you will be so kind as to excuse a moment," Gail said, glaring back at her daughter as she left the room.

"Certainly," Marshall said before turning to follow Lauren outside, but he was stopped by a shove from Mary. "What?" he asked innocently.

"Oh, I think you know, you kiss ass," she whispered loudly in annoyance.

"I can't help it if the ladies like me, Mare," he teased with a grin.

She rolled her eyes in response and walked out the French doors to the find Lauren.

Gail returned to a few minutes later with a young man in tow that Mary could only assume was her son. He looked young and she wondered if he was even 21 yet. He was dressed in what Mary could only assume were the latest fashions; Brandi was the expert in that department. 'Brandi.' She wondered what Brandi would think of the Heffermans.

"Andrew, these are friends of Lauren's from New York," Gail stated.

Mary stood up and reached a hand out to him, "Hey, Andy, I'm Mary." She studied his face for some resemblance to their father, but saw none and decided that any familial traits were from the boy's mother.

"It's _Andrew_," he replied, clearly feeling like the whole affair was an annoyance and interruption to his day.

"Okay, then," Mary said, taking her seat again and looking inquisitively at Lauren, who was trying to stifle a laugh.

"Nice to meet you, Andrew," Marshall said as he stood in order to draw attention away from Mary. "I'm Marshall."

Andrew took a step closer and eyed Marshall up and down before extending his hand and saying, "The pleasure is all mine, I'm sure."

"Um, yes, well…" Marshall stuttered, not knowing quite how to respond.

A smile appeared on Mary's face as she watched the exchange and she let Marshall suffer for a moment before reaching up and taking his hand.

"Marshall is my boyfriend, Andrew," she stated territorially as she pulled Marshall back down into his seat, intertwining their fingers and letting them remain that way.

"Hmm, shame," Andrew sighed as he took a seat next to his sister.

Marshall asked Gail what she did for a living and upon finding out she was a Realtor, the two commenced an animated conversation about the current state of the market. Everyone else sat quietly and Mary realized there were times she wished she possessed Marshall's ability to converse with almost anyone about almost anything. But then she decided he was much better suited for the task and she noted it as just one more reason to keep him around.

When Gail returned an interest in Marshall, he told her he worked for a large, private security firm in New York. Telling him he looked more like a cowboy than a New Yorker, he chuckled and explained that he was originally from Texas.

Andrew suddenly showed a renewed interest in the conversation, "A real, live cowboy right in here in our house."

Gail ignored her son's comment and asked Lauren to help her bring out some beverages from the kitchen. Concerned about leaving her son with their guests unsupervised, she ordered Andrew to get one of the family photo albums from the den. As the three disappeared into the house, Marshall felt Mary tense and turned to see a pale face looking back at him.

"What is it?"

"It's just," Mary began, "I had almost forgot why we were here."

"Are you sure you want to stay?" Marshall asked as he rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand. "We can make some excuse."

"No. I need to do this. I need to see."

"Okay." He squeezed her hand a little tighter in support and she gave him a weak smile, putting back on the façade as Gail and Lauren returned.

When Andrew appeared with the album, Gail took it and offered to Mary and Marshall.

Reluctantly letting go of Marshall's hand, Mary reached out and took it. She stared at the cover a moment, her own childhood memories flashing through her mind. That was when she felt Marshall's hand come to rest on her thigh, giving a gentle squeeze in support and she flipped open the cover. The first thing she saw was a larger copy of the photo Lauren had given her the night before. Trying not to show any unusual reaction, she asked about their sister.

"That's Becca," Lauren stated, ignoring her brother as he mouthed the word Rebecca.

"She's in her second year of graduate school up at Berkeley," Gail interjected, obviously extremely proud of her other daughter and the irritated looks on the Lauren and Andrew's faces did not go unnoticed. "Full scholarship."

"You must be very proud," Marshall stated. "What's she studying?"

"Criminal Justice."

The response surprised him and he immediately took his hand from Mary's leg and wrapped it around her shoulders, as casually as possible, in order to offer her support. It was impossible for them to know what the other sister was like, but it didn't matter. He was sure that Mary would be comparing herself to Rebecca and feeling inferior. Marshall just thought it ironic that her fugitive father would have not only one, but two daughters in law enforcement.

Mary continued to scan page after page of photos as Gail and her children recounted stories from their childhood, Lauren somewhat less animated than the rest. Coming to one that appeared to be a family camping trip, Gail couldn't remember the details of the vacation and asked Mary to pass the album so she could have a closer look.

As Mary stood and reached across the table with the book, several papers fell from the back cover. She apologized, and handing the album to Gail, moved to gather them up.

"Don't worry about it, Mary," Gail stated with a wave of her hand, "there's really nothing of importance shoved in there."

"I don't mind," Mary said, handing some papers to her. She went about picking up the last of the stray photos from the table, when she froze.

Marshall noticed first and was on immediate alert. He didn't want to make a scene, but there was no doubt in his mind that something was wrong.

"Mary, is everything alright?" Gail inquired.

"Yes," Mary lied. "I had surgery not too long ago and it still bothers me sometimes. I'm fine."

"Can I get you anything?" Lauren asked.

"No, thanks."

Marshall knew Mary was lying and noticed that she still held one of the photos in her hand.

"Who's this little girl with your father?" Mary asked, holding up the photo for the Heffereman's to see.

"Oh, I can't remember her name anymore," Gail responded with little interest. "She was the daughter of one of my husband's cousins back in New Jersey."

Mary looked at the photo again, holding it so Marshall could see and he understood. It was the same picture that Mary often kept in her pocket, the one of her and her father. The one he wasn't supposed to know about.

He looked over at Lauren and watched it register on her face. She understood exactly who the little girl in the photo was and felt sorry for Mary, her mother's words suddenly seeming so callous. In attempt to give Mary time to recover, she distracted her mother with questions about Rebecca's classes. While Andrew, bored with the entire situation, took out his phone and began texting.

She reached down and found Marshall's hand, still holding the photo in the other. He tugged gently and coaxed her back into her seat. Leaning in to whisper in her ear, he reassured her as he took the photo and slid it across the table toward Gail.

"I can't believe how late it's gotten," Gail crowed, looking at her watch as Lauren ran out of questions. "You must think we're so rude for not feeding you. Please, stay and join us for dinner."

"Your husband won't mind? What time does he get home?" Mary said, voice flat and face still ashen, ignoring the glare from Lauren's direction. She had agreed not to bring up their father, but she couldn't help it. As the reality of what had just happened sunk in, she grew more and more angry, not able to hold her tongue.

Gail looked over at Mary in surprise. But recovered quickly and responded, "My husband's out of town on business." The tone of the response indicating that there would be no further discussion of the matter. Then, turning to her son she barked, "Andrew, put that damn phone down and help me set the table."

"No, Mom, they can't stay," Lauren stated, not giving Mary or Marshall a chance to respond to the offer.

"Are you sure?" Gail asked, glancing between her two guests.

"Thank you for the invitation, Gail, but we really must be going." Marshall kept his voice even and his tone polite. "I'm afraid Mary may have overdone it today and should get some rest."

"Well, if you're sure. Then, allow us walk you out." Mrs. Hefferman and her children said their good-byes in the front hall, returned cordially by Mary and Marshall.

As they walked out the front door, Marshall wrapped his arm around Mary once more, in an effort to offer moral and physical support. The color had still not returned to her face and he was growing more and more concerned.

Just as they had reached the curb, Lauren came up behind them.

"What the hell was that?" Lauren snapped. "I'm sorry about the picture, I had no idea it was in there, but you promised not to bring up my father."

"Look…" Marshall began, but Mary holding up her hand stopped in from continuing.

"I know I said I wouldn't mention _our _father, but forgive for being thrown a little off my game back there. Besides, if I'm going to find out what happened to him, I need to know if anyone is hiding anything. And from what I saw back there, the family closet is not free of skeletons."

"I don't want you contacting my family again. And if I find out you contacted Rebecca…"

"What Lauren? What are you going to do?" Mary challenged.

"Just stay away from us." And with that, Lauren turned and walked back to the house.

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**Happy return of IPS day, all! Hope you enjoyed it.**


	10. Chapter 9

**My apologies for the lateness of this chapter. You miss one deadline and the rest go out the window. Thanks to BuJyo for the speedy beta. I hope it was worth the wait.**

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**Ch. 9: What's in a Letter?**

"Jesus H. Christ! Who the hell do those damn people think they are?" Mary yelled as she entered the motel room.

They were the first words she'd uttered since they left the Hefferman's and Marshall breathed a sigh of relief. She had sat in silence in the truck after her final confrontation with Lauren, almost non-responsive, and he'd begun to worry that she may be in shock.

"I mean, seriously, acting all high and mighty; Ms. Realtor with her perfect house and her perfect family. Talk about control issues."

Marshall, who had followed Mary into the room and taken a seat in the chair by the window, regarded her last comment with a raised eyebrow. He knew the afternoon was upsetting for Mary and that this was her way of coping, but Gail's control issues paled in comparison to those of his partner.

"What?" Mary snapped when she noticed the way Marshall was looking at her. "C'mon, you can't seriously tell me that there wasn't something strange going on in that house?"

"Do I think there was something they weren't telling us? Yes."

"See. I knew it wasn't just me," Mary added before Marshall had had time to complete his thoughts.

"But...," he injected, "Her husband and their father is missing. I can see them not wanting to discuss it in front of strangers, especially if they believe he just left."

"Well that certainly seems to be what he's best at, doesn't it. But in this case, who could blame him? I don't know how he ever lasted this long." Mary paced about the room, picking things up and putting them back down, not really sure what to do with herself. She was hurt and angry, but couldn't really focus on anything past the anger at the moment.

"Mary," Marshall warned at the absurdity of her statement. He knew she needed to work through it, but he couldn't let her live in denial either. James Shannon had left Mary when she was seven. He'd been in the role of James Hefferman for over twenty-five years. Even if he did leave in the end, the situations were by no mean comparable.

"Fine, yes, they had their perfect little family growing up. Mom and Dad together, family vacations and little league. Woo Hoo!" she said waving her hands in the air. "What the hell was the point when we all ended up the same damn place?" She had stopped moving and was staring at Marshall with her hands on her hips, waiting, hoping for confirmation.

Marshall could see she was getting more desperate, grabbing at straws, trying to hold on to anything that would keep her from having to deal with what she learned today. He fought back his own emotions, the desire to rescue her, and reminded himself to just be there for her. The chinks in the armor were there and he knew it wouldn't be long before it would crumble.

"What do you want to do now?" he asked, knowing she hadn't given any thought to the next step, but thinking he may be able to redirect her attention.

"I need to call the other sister," Mary said as if stating the obvious. "See if I can drag any information out of her since Lauren's obviously not going to be of any help. What was her deal, anyway? All I did was ask her mother whether her husband was coming home. It's not like I jumped up on the table and announced I was her long lost step-daughter, for chrissakes," Mary barked, starting to pace once again. "Oh, or better yet, I could call Jinx and Brandi and we could have a bigamist family reunion."

Marshall winced at the reference; not particularly liking the path Mary was headed down.

"That's good, right," Mary continued, very animated, "sounds just like one of those reality TV shows. My Big, Fat Bigamist Family. Jinx can finally have that acting career she always wanted. The poor, single mom left to raise two little girls all on her own. That is, when she decided to come up out of the bottle for air. Why my parents ever chose to procreate is something I'll never understand. Just another reason you should need a license in order to have kids. What the hell were they thinking bringing kids into this world?"

Mary voice trailed off as she stopped in front of the mirror, staring at her reflection. She couldn't imagine any kind of reason or master plan that could possibly exist when it came to her life. It seemed to be a series of disappointments and never ending pain resulting from the stupid decisions her parents had made. She hung her head, avoiding her own gaze, not wanting to feel anything.

He was behind her before she even realized he'd moved. She felt the heat from his body along the back of her as his hands came to rest on her shoulders. Then looking up into the mirror once more, she found the brilliant blue of his eyes waiting there for her.

"No matter how many bad decisions they made. Regardless of all the mean and stupid things they may have done. There is one thing in this world for which I will always be grateful to your parents." Marshall turned Mary to face him and placing his hand gently under her chin, guided her to meet his gaze. "And that is you, Mary Shannon. The world is a better place...my world is a better place because of you. Don't ever doubt it and don't ever forget it."

She felt the water in her eyes and tried to blink back the tears, but a single drop escaped and slowly trailed down her cheek. Marshall reached up and brushed it lightly away with his thumb, letting it linger to caress her cheek. He could see her struggling and his eyes pleaded with her to share the burden.

"Every once in awhile," he whispered, holding his arms open to her, "it's okay not to be the strongest one in the room."

Stepping into his arms, she wondered at what point she'd done whatever it was she did to deserve Marshall. She couldn't think of a single thing. She'd always been hard, abusive and closed off. Her behavior toward him had been no exception. If anything, the longer he'd stuck around, the more abusive she'd been. Thankful he hadn't given up on her, she made a mental note to tell him just that because in this moment, she was content to stay quietly cocooned in his arms.

A knock at the door disturbed the newly found calm within the motel room and each groaned as they were forced to break apart. After sharing a questioning look as to who it may be, Marshall stepped over and opened the door, surprised to find Lauren standing on the other side.

"I hope I'm not intruding," she said, glancing over at Mary. "Is it okay if I come in for a minute?"

Mary nodded and Marshall moved to let Lauren in, while at the same time asking Mary in the form of an unspoken question if she wanted him to give them some time alone. She nodded again and Marshall grabbed his jacket, excusing himself as he left the room. He wouldn't wander far, but would use the time to check in with Stan while giving the sisters an opportunity to clear the air, he hoped.

"Look, Mary," Lauren began, "I'm sorry about earlier. It's just the subject of my...our father is a very sensitive one for my mother. He's been gone almost a year and I still don't think she's dealt with it. She continues on like it's just another day, like he's going to walk in the door from work any minute."

Mary had behaved the same way, but she rolled her eyes at Lauren's comment, thinking a grown woman should know better. "Don't worry about it. He's not my father. I'm just some distant cousin from New Jersey," she said snidely. "Was there something else you needed? Cause I, for one, think this little chat has been really helpful." She turned away and started playing with the items in her bag as she tried to keep her hands from shaking.

"I told you, I didn't know about the picture," Lauren said in exasperation. "You can't blame my mother when she was only repeating what Dad had told her."

"Disowning the disappointing family back east for the perfect one in California."

"Mary, please."

"No. It's fine, really," she said, accompanied by a sarcastic laugh that kicked in as a defense mechanism. "Seriously, I believe I'm the lucky one in this scenario. I've had my whole life to get used the fact that he's gone. And after a disappointment like that, all the other crap life throws at you is cake. You're the one that's gonna have to learn to accept that your perfect little world, wasn't as perfect as you thought."

"I only came here to apologize for earlier and give you this," Lauren stated, pulling an envelope from her pocket.

"What's that?" Mary asked, exhaustion evident in her voice.

"I lied earlier," she admitted. "I got a letter from Dad a couple of months after he disappeared. I haven't told anyone about it, not even my family, but if it can help you figure out what happened to him..."

"A letter?"

"Yeah. I have it memorized, so you can take it with you," Lauren said as she turned toward the door. Opening it, she turned back to Mary and said, "I know he hurt you, but please don't blame my family for something they had no control over and don't even know about. You have my number, please call me if you find out anything."

Mary watched her go, the letter held tight between two fists. Time slowed as she as she pulled it from the envelope with trembling hands and sat down on the bed, afraid of her legs giving out on her. She hadn't received a letter since the day she bought the house and she blamed herself, afraid her father took her seriously when she had said she didn't need him any more and destroyed the bug.

_June 17, 2009_

_Lauren,_

_Sweetheart, I am sorry that I left so quickly, but I've done some things and I must go away._

Mary stared at the words on the paper. Words that echoed the sentiment of another letter written a lifetime ago.

_You will no doubt hear from Jinx, Mary and Brandi that I am a bad man. I am sorry that you had to find out about my past this way and for what it's worth, I don't think of myself as bad, just very, very foolish._

As she continued to read the words that filled the page, her heart pounded faster in her chest. Her father asking Lauren to look after her mother, as well as her brother and sister, saying that they would not understand and it would difficult on them. It wasn't until she read his final words that her heart broke into a million pieces.

_I hold you close in my heart, as always. A million kisses, the sun and the moon._

_Daddy_

As Lauren made her way back to her car, she could see Marshall standing near motel's office on the phone. Not wanting to disturb him, she simply waved. But seeing him motion for her to wait, stopped.

"Thanks for waiting," Marshall said as he approached. "I just wanted you to know that this is the most difficult thing that Mary's had to deal with in her life. It's going to take her some time."

"I know it must have been difficult on her..."

"No. I don't think you could possibly understand what it must have been like to be seven years old and have the one person that meant more to you than anything else in the world just walk out of your life. It was traumatizing, especially when you throw in a mother that couldn't take care of herself, better yet her two little girls, so Mary essentially became the adult."

"I had no idea," Lauren admitted.

"I know. That's why I'm telling you."

"Thank you for telling me. I can see how much you care about her," Lauren paused and silence fell between them for a moment. "Please tell her that I really am sorry. I just gave her a letter I received from my dad, I'm not sure if it'll help, but I figured it couldn't hurt." She noticed the change in Marshall's expression. "Is everything okay?"

"I just really need to get back," he said, preoccupied.

"Well, tell her if she needs anything, if there's anything else I can do, to call me."

"I tell her," he replied. Then before walking away, he added, "It was nice to meet you, Lauren. And the same goes for you, if there's ever anything we can do, call." He handed Lauren his card and offered a smile before making his way back to the room.

He opened the door slowly to reveal her standing near the window, arms wrapped tightly around her chest, face barely visible in the soft glow of the parking lots lights. Due to the lack of light in the room, he wasn't able to make out the paper and envelope tossed aside on the table until he reached her side.

She never turned to look at him or acknowledge his presence, but she knew he was there, standing close enough for her to feel him without touching. Giving the support she needed, without pushing her. And although she felt as if her world had come crashing down around her, there he still stood. Waiting. She knew it was significant, that it meant something, possibly everything and she finally spoke.

"All the letters that he wrote me, the words of love and encouragement, they weren't real. They didn't mean anything because the entire time he was actually being a real father to someone else."

Marshall could see the change in her breathing and knew she was trying to force the sobs back down.

"How do you do that to a child?" she continued. "Promise them the world only to give it to another? And not just take away the fantasies, but make her responsible for all those you left behind when she's not much more than a baby." She turned to face Marshall as the tears began to fall freely. "What kind of a person does something like that?"

He gathered her up in his arms and held her as it all came pouring out of her. Everything that Mary Elizabeth Shannon had ever believed came crashing down in the face of reality, from the hopes and dreams of the little girl to the heartache and disappointment of the woman. She no longer knew who she was or what to believe. All she could do was cling to the man that had become her rock and hope that he could keep her from slipping away.

When the sobs had subsided and her breathing began to even out, he pulled back to look at her. He had never seen her so vulnerable, or so beautiful, and he let the back of his hand caress her cheek until she began to shy away.

"I'm sorry," he said, dropping his hand. "I didn't mean to…"

"No, don't be sorry. I just…"

"Hey, it's me," Marshall whispered. "All you have to do is…"

"…tell you what I need." She looked up at him as his words fell from her lips and his breath hitched at the emotion he saw. "For now, will you just lay down next to me? I don't want to be alone."

"You are not alone, Mare," Marshall insisted. "You are never alone."

* * *

**It may not seem like it, but we are almost at the end. Are you still with me?**


	11. Chapter 10

**A very special shout-out to BuJyo who read and re-read this chapter as it grew and developed into its current form. I know you've waited patiently for this chapter and to thank you, I was up most of the night to get it finished so forgive any errors you may find. While this could be considered the end, there will most likely be a small epilogue.**

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**Ch. 10: Open Hearts and Doors***

Mary stretched and rolled over, sighing in contentment as she nuzzled into the warmth of the sleeping form next to her. She felt rested and at peace, as if she were exactly where she was meant to be and nothing else in the world existed. It was then her consciousness began to stir and she woke with a start, remembering everything.

He breathed in her scent, only to let out a moan as she snuggled into him. Holding her close, Marshall drifted between sleep and consciousness, something telling him it was different this time; that she was really there and it wasn't just a dream. Feeling her body tense, he was instantly awake and on full alert, very aware of her in his arms.

"Mare?" he whispered, barely audible. He knew she was awake, but he also knew that something was wrong and he didn't want to startle her. As he waited for response, he couldn't help but wonder if her current state had anything to do with the fact that she was regretting waking up in his arms. They hadn't had sex, but he had a feeling that last night was the most intimate Mary had ever been with a man. She had allowed him to see her at her most vulnerable, to hold her and comfort her. Not having gotten a response, he urged, "Please, Mare, talk to me?"

Not wanting to cry, again, she took a moment to steady herself before facing him and propping herself up on her elbow. "It's just...waking up like this...with you..." She saw the subtle change in his expression, the hurt in his eyes and realized that she wasn't being clear, not at all. "This isn't coming out right. What I meant was that it felt good, Marshall. I felt good," she admitted with a small smile that faded quickly as she continued, "I had forgotten about everything else for a second." She fell back on the pillow, staring at the ceiling.

Marshall's heart skipped a beat as she admitted to being happy, but he understood what she was saying. She couldn't truly be happy until she dealt with the past and reconciled herself with the present. Only then could there be a future. He wanted to help her, more than anything, but he knew there was nothing he could do. Mary needed to deal with the information regarding her father in her own way and in her own time. He would have to settle for being there for her, being whatever she needed, whenever she needed it.

What he didn't want was to see her hurt again because of her father and his gut was telling him that if she decided to pursue it any further that's exactly what would happen. But, regardless of the path she chose, he'd be there and he needed her to know that. He needed to say it.

"I'm here," he told her as he rolled onto his side and placed his open hand on her stomach. He leaned into her bringing his mouth to her ear. "I hope you know that, but I'm telling you anyway. As long as I walk this earth, Mary Shannon, you will never be alone. I will always be there for you, even when you think you don't need anyone." He poured his heart into the words he spoke and as he pledged himself to her, he leaned in and brushed his lips against her ear. "That is one thing you can count on and you never need doubt. You have my word."

She turned her body toward him and her face came to rest in front of his, noses touching. He started to pull back some when she slid her hand along the side of his face to the back of his neck to keep him close. No more words were spoken as each one poured every fiber of their being, every bit of their soul, into the look they now shared. When she was sure he wouldn't pull away, Mary took her hand from his neck and slowly traced along his jaw with her fingertips, letting them come to rest on his lips and linger there.

Taking his hand from her belly, he moved it to her hip before sliding it around and under the fabric of her t-shirt, widening his fingers to span the small of her back. He applied a hint of pressure with his palm, holding her body to his and memorizing the feel of her under his touch. He knew it couldn't go much further, that she wasn't ready and he wasn't willing to risk their future by doing something stupid, but the longer they stayed this way the harder it was getting to remember why they shouldn't continue.

"Mare." It came out half moan, half plea as he struggled against his body's growing desire.

"I know," she replied, her voice reflecting a similar struggle. "Just one more thing." And before he could respond, she placed her lips softly against his; once, twice, a third time. With each touch of her lips, she let them linger longer, applied slightly more pressure until she kept them there, her tongue teasing his lips and requesting access. He couldn't suppress his smile as she deepened the kiss and he teased her back, tongue flirting with hers, a matching smile on her lips until he finally allowed her access.

A groan escaped from the back of his throat as she kissed him, truly kissed him, and left him in no doubt of her feelings for him. He responded in kind and felt as if his heart may explode as he told her he loved her in the only way he could at present.

Eventually, the pace began to slow until Mary broke the kiss altogether and buried her face in Marshall's neck. He pulled her close and they clung to each other, trying to stay in the moment as long as possible, afraid that letting go would cause it all to disappear.

"Thank you for not giving up on me," Mary finally whispered into his neck, remembering the promise she had made to herself the night before to tell him that very thing. There was more she needed to say to him, but it was all she was capable of under the current circumstances. Her life was in shambles. Marshall was actually the only part of it that made any sense, but she didn't want to become dependent on him.

They had always had an equal partnership and she wanted it to remain that way, even if it meant not being able to take their relationship any further than it had already gone, at least for the time being. She needed to deal with what her father had done and the effect it had had on her life, but knowing Marshall was there and what the future held for them was something she could draw strength from and find comfort in.

"I'm not going to lie to you and say it's been easy," Marshall said as he loosened his embrace, wanting to look at her while he spoke. "There were definitely times that I had to take a step back, for my own sanity. But I can honestly say that when push came to shove, there was nothing that could have made me walk away from you. Not even you and Lord knows you certainly did try."

They shared a knowing smile before he wrapped his arms around her once more, wishing the early morning hour never had to end. Eventually it would, however, and they'd be forced back into the world. The moment came sooner than he would have liked as she whispered, "Take me home, Marshall."

***

They were on the road and headed back to Albuquerque before sunrise.

He could sense that she was anxious, so he kept the stops to a minimum; gas, coffee and food to go only, with the occasional stop in the rest rooms. Nothing more had been said about what had happened earlier that morning, if fact, not much had been said at all. Mary spent the trip pensively watching as the world flew by and he let her have time with her thoughts, hoping that by the time they reached home she'd have made some decisions.

They were back in Albuquerque by 5pm and Marshall made his way directly to Mary's. She was relieved not to find any cars out front, not wanting to deal with a lot of questions from Jinx or Brandi as to where she had been the past few days. Marshall had told her that he'd called Jinx and explained they'd be gone, but she knew there would still be questions.

He walked her in and helped her get settled. She was moving slower again and it was obvious that the past week had taken a physical, as well as a mental, toll on her. Not wanting to put any additional stress on her at the moment, he decided he'd call her doctor in the morning and make the appointment for her.

"Can I get you anything?" he asked, trying not to hover.

"Yeah," she said, not able to hide the wince as she sat on the bed and bent over to remove her shoes. "Could you grab me a bottle of water from the fridge?"

"Sure. I'll be right back." He had a feeling she was just trying to get him out of the way while she changed, so he wouldn't see exactly how much pain she was in. So he headed toward the kitchen, taking his time and helping himself to a glass of water before heading back to the bedroom. He was surprised to find her lying in bed, an unspoken admission of just how tired she really was.

"Just put it on the nightstand," she said in reference to the water and he complied, taking a seat on the edge of the bed as he did so.

"How're you doing, really?" he asked as he reached over and gathered her hair behind her ear to allow him a better view of her face, caressing her cheek as he did so.

The glare she shot him told him what he already knew, that she wasn't doing well and had no intention of talking about it.

"Okay," he said, conceding, "okay." As he studied her, his thoughts drifted back to the unspoken promises made earlier and he knew it was time for him to go. "Call me if you need anything."

She nodded, but didn't look at him, so he placed his hand gently under her chin and waited for her to look him in the eye. "I'd stay…I want to stay, but we both know that's not what you want right now. So promise you'll call." He paused a moment, then added with a smile, "even if it's just to listen to me breathe."

Her response came again in the form of a nod, but this time it was accompanied by a faint smile.

Bending, he whispered a thank you in her ear and couldn't stop himself from placing a soft kiss on her cheek as he pulled away. He watched her unconsciously place her fingertips on the spot his lips had touched, making it that much harder for him to walk away.

"I'm going to check in with Stan and then if it's okay with you, I'll hang out a bit and wait for Jinx or Brandi to get back, run a little interference so they won't bother you…at least not tonight anyway."

"Thanks, Marshall," she said, reaching out and taking his hand in hers, relying on her ability to convey her thoughts to her partner without having to say a word.

He gave her hand a squeeze before letting it go and walking out of the room. It took all the strength he had not to turn around, not to take her in his arms and hold on for dear life. Instead, he reached for his phone and hit 2 on the speed dial for Stan.

***

Over the next week, Mary struggled to get her recovery back on track, while Marshall stood supportively by, offering encouragement when needed and making sure she had everything she needed before she asked. She didn't speak a word about her father, or anything else that happened in California, and he didn't push.

Much to his dislike, Marshall was forced to go out of town the following week to accompany a witness to trial. It was a high profile case back east and involved several days of planning since he was down a partner and would be working with people he didn't know, therefore couldn't trust. The trip itself would be at least two days, possibly more, depending on how long they kept the witness on the stand. The only part of the situation that concerned him, though, was the fact that he had to leave his still recovering partner behind.

He wasn't the only one bothered by the situation. The witness he was transporting was one of Mary's and she had more than a few colorful things to say when she found out she'd be missing the trial. She trusted Marshall with her witness, but she didn't trust the other Marshals with Marshall and her witness.

During the days of preparation, he'd call to make sure she was eating and taking her medicine and she texted to double check his exit strategies and contingency plans. They saw each other briefly when he'd make a detour on his way to and from the witness visits he needed to make before leaving town. Then, the night before he left, he showed up at 10pm with pie.

Mary had promised Marshall that she'd concentrate on taking care of herself while he was gone and she really did try. If the doctor was happy with her progress at her next visit, he promised to clear her for desk duty and she couldn't wait to get back to work, even if it meant doing paperwork. The problem was she couldn't stop thinking about Marshall and it was driving her to distraction. There had been plenty of assignments in which they'd been separated before, so she couldn't figure out why this time was so different.

He called her to let her know they'd made it there without incident, but she still had trouble sleeping. She laid in the dark and thought back to that morning in California. While neither of them had said the words aloud, they had laid their souls bare and promises were made. The same sentiment echoed in their phone conversation earlier.

"_Be safe," she said._

"_Take care yourself," he replied._

One thing was said, while another implied. And that was when she realized it was simply that she missed him.

Getting out of bed, she went into the closet and found the box of father's letters, which she'd avoided since her return. Taking the letter Lauren had given her from her drawer, she laid it side by side with the first letter she'd received from her father and she knew it was time to lay the past to rest, for good this time.

The next two days felt like weeks and she thought she was going to explode as she paced the floor, waiting for him to walk through the front door. It was after 1am and he'd told her to get some sleep and that he'd see her in the morning, but she'd told him to shut the hell up and get his ass over to her house or it would be his fault that she didn't sleep all night.

The truth was that he'd missed her and would've given anything to be near her, so it hadn't taken much for him to agree to head straight to her house. He used his key to enter and wasn't surprised to find her standing there since she'd been texting him ever since the plane landed.

"Bout damn time, Doofus," she said, glaring at him with her hands on her hips.

"Well, there was the small matter of making sure your witness was tucked back in safe and sound," he stated, trying not to smile at the sight of her pretending to be agitated.

"And exactly what did this tucking in of Janice involve?"

"Aw, c'mon, Mare," he drawled, as he made his way over to her. "You're not jealous, are you?"

She raised her hand to smack him in the chest, but he caught her arm in his hand and pulled her close.

"I'm glad you're home," she said, resting her head on his chest.

"It's good to be home," he replied, wrapping his arms around her shoulders.

"I'm tired," Mary said after a moment, "let's go to bed."

Marshall looked at her in surprise. "What about Jinx and Brandi?"

"Brandi's at Peter's," Mary said with a gleam in her eye. "And Jinx, well she's just going to have to find one of her own, I don't share."

Taking his hand, she led him to her bedroom and for the first time in days, they each drifted off into a restful sleep.

***

Three days later, Marshall was driving Mary to her doctor's appointment and she was hoping it was the last time anyone would have to drive her anywhere. If the doctor cleared her today, she could start going into the office the next day and driving herself; or better yet, she could drive Marshall.

Her thoughts then took a turn to the fact that he hadn't stayed over since the night he returned from his trip.

"Hey, how come you have only been coming by during the day?" she asked warily.

"What do you mean?"

"You heard me. You snuck out the other morning without waking me and you haven't stayed over since." The fact that he was avoiding giving her an answer was starting to annoy her.

"I didn't sneak out. I had to get to work and didn't want to wake you," he answered calmly.

"And?" she asked, suspiciously.

"And nothing, Mare," he responded, getting defensive. "I just think it's better if I don't. I just don't want to confuse things."

They pulled into the lot and he killed the engine.

"Confuse things? What the hell…you know what, never mind. Thanks for the ride." Getting out of the car, she slammed the door and stormed into the office.

***

Marshall had been waiting for her when she was finished with the doctor, but she hadn't said a word to him, not even to tell him that she had gotten her clearance.

She had remained stoic in the car, not responding to his subtle attempts to engage her in conversation and when they reached the house, she had left him sitting at the curb. Now, as she sat in her room on the verge of tears, she wondered what her problem was. She had sworn that she wouldn't jump to conclusions or fly off the handle when it came to Marshall and here she was, doing exactly that.

Grabbing the box of letters and her jacket, she found her car keys and headed out. Enough was enough. It was finally time for certain things to be said.

She found him sitting on his back step, beer in hand, staring off into the distance. Setting the box at his feet, she sat down next to him and took the beer from his hand.

"You sure that's a good idea," he said, still not looking at her.

"Relax, Nelly, got cleared today." She took a swig, then sat with her elbows on her knees and picked at the label of the bottle. God, you really do deserve so much better."

"I have everything I want sitting right next to me." Reaching over, he took her hand in his and began to rub his thumb along of it.

"You were right, you know," Mary told him as she nodded toward the box. "Its lies, all lies. Every single word he ever wrote was to ease his guilty conscience. I've let him ruin so much of my life, but I refuse to let him ruin the rest."

"Are you sure about this?" he asked, worried that she'd regret it. But as he looked into her eyes, he could see her resolve and despite the slight tremor in her voice, there were no signs of tears. She had finally made the decision to let her father go.

"Do you remember when I told you that one day we would talk about what I need?" she asked softly, turning her hand over so that she could intertwine her fingers with his as he nodded yes in response. "Could you say it?"

"Tell me what you need," he whispered.

"What I need is the one person that I trust and count on every day. I need my best friend and the only man to ever stay, no matter how hard I pushed him. But most of all, I need you, Marshall Mann, the one person that accepts me for who I am and that I can't live without. I love you, Marshall."

Everything was quiet and it felt as if time had stopped while she waited for a response, but none came. She was still staring at their hands, afraid to meet his gaze when she felt his hand on her cheek and she looked up into sparkling blue eyes that made her breath hitch.

"I love you, Mary Shannon. I love every last thing about you and don't ever want you to change, especially not for me, because you are perfect just the way you are. And nothing would make me happier than to spend the rest of my life proving that to you."

***

As they sat in each other's arms, watching the past go up in flames, they looked forward to what the future would bring. They were in no rush to get there, though, because to them, the present seemed pretty damn close to perfect.

* * *

***Title is from an original song by Antigone Rising.**

**Now, satisfy my craving for reviews and let me know your thoughts since we have pretty much reached the end of our story. **

**I hope you enjoyed it.**


	12. Epilogue

A/N: Well here we are at the end of this little tale. I hope you enjoyed it. I swore after my other story that I wouldn't write another one and this time I mean it. At least not until the next season hiatus because real life needs my attention right now. Thanks to sfchemist for encouraging me to write this and going her beta best as usual. Thanks to BuJyo for giving me the kick in the pants to get the story finished and helping out on the last few chapters. Happy Season 3 everyone!

* * *

**Epilogue: Home is Where the Heart is**

**Albuquerque: 1 year later**

Mary set the box down and collapsed onto the couch.

"I swear to God if I ever have to move again, I'm just buying all new stuff," she swore as she wiped the sweat from her brow.

"Well," Marshall said, handing her a cold bottle of water and sitting down next to her, "then I guess it's a good thing you'll never have to." Putting his arm around her, he guided her shoulders back so she leaned against him and placed a kiss on the top of her head.

"Damn straight. You're stuck with me, bub." She took his hand and looked up over her shoulder at him, adding, "And don't you ever forget it."

He leaned down and kissed her. Hearing the small moan that escaped her throat, he pulled back with a smile, delighting in the fact that he could still elicit such a response from her with only a kiss.

"Where do you think you're going, Mister? You're not done here," she said, grabbing at the neck of his t-shirt.

"Easy there, tiger, we still have a lot of boxes to unpack."

"Boxes, shmoxes, they're not going anywhere," she said, pulling him down for a quick, hard kiss. "Besides, haven't you ever heard that it's bad luck not to christen all the rooms before moving in?"

"Well," he said, leaning over to kiss the nape of her neck, "who am I to argue with logic like that?" He continued to place soft kisses along her neck as he worked his way toward her ear, whispering, "We wouldn't want to do anything to cause bad luck, would we?"

"Uh, uh," was all she could muster in reply as his breath tickled her ear, sending a shiver down her spine.

"Then we better get busy because we're almost moved in and there are quite a few rooms requiring our attention."

"Mmm, hmm," she moaned, turning her body around so she was straddling him.

They spent the afternoon making the most of each room in the house. From the top of the washing machine to the nautilus in the spare room and the floor of the "bullet" room to the granite countertops in the kitchen, they made love and pleasured each other with abandon.

As she lay back on the cool granite, satiated, Mary was glad they had decided to look for a place on the outskirts of town. She remembered the look she got from the Realtor when she explained they were looking for a place that was quiet and fairly secluded, but had to be easily defendable. She had no idea at the time just how nice all the privacy would be and smiled at what kind of look they would earn if the woman knew how they'd just spent the afternoon.

"No, Mare, please, just a little rest," he begged, seeing the devilish grin on her face as his slick, sweaty body sank down half on top of hers.

"I thought you said you could handle anything, stud?" she teased, gliding her fingertips along his muscular back.

"Oh, I think I've more than proven myself," he responded into her chest, not even able to lift his head due to exhaustion. "And I didn't say I was done. Let's just consider this a time out."

Mary wriggled underneath him, trying to free herself.

"Where are you going?" Marshall groaned as she slid out from under him and off the countertop.

"Water," she stated.

"Yes, please," he responded, even though she hadn't posed a question. He sat up as he watched her walk across the kitchen to the fridge and smiled in contentment before hopping down. He sidled over and bent to place a kiss on the back of her shoulder before reaching around and taking the bottle of water.

"I thought you needed a time out?" she asked sarcastically as she turned to face him. Taking the cap off her own water and holding it up, she continued, "Need a little help cooling off?"

"As lovely as that sounds, there's something I need to do first."

Curious, green eyes followed him as he found his discarded jeans and pulled them on before heading out the front door with them still unbuttoned, no shirt or shoes. Following in his footsteps, she picked up his t-shirt and put it on, then walked to the window. Her breath caught as she admired his lean, muscular form in the bright, afternoon sunshine.

It was in moments like these that she found it impossible to believe it had taken her so long to see what had been right in front of her all these years. She refused to dwell on it, though, and knew that it was because of all those years of partnership and friendship that she could now let herself love and be loved free of fear. He was still here and wasn't going anywhere, at least not without her.

He had a small bag in his hand as he closed up the truck and she laughed at the face he made as he attempted to navigate the stones of the driveway to retrieve the mail from the mailbox. Looking up, he met her gaze and she shook her head at him as he grinned foolishly, proud of his accomplishment.

"Hey, Doofus, you have shoes for a reason," she said as he came into the room.

"Well, I wasn't planning on getting the mail. I didn't even think about it until I was out there," he shrugged.

"Because there's no way all that junk mail couldn't wait until later, right?"

"Maybe it could have, but this couldn't," he said, handing her the small bag and tossing the mail onto the coffee table.

"What's this?" she questioned, staring at him.

"Consider it a little housewarming gift."

"Housewarmings are just another excuse for people to spend money on cards and presents people will never use," she ranted. "Honestly, was anyone's home life ever truly made better by a chip and dip set or a plant?"

"Oookay, in that case consider it a welcome home present," Marshall drawled, leaning in to kiss her in order to distract her from her social commentary. As he broke away, he whispered, "Just open it, Mary."

She gave him a little smirk and shrugged as she looked in the bag and saw two small boxes, too large for jewelry and too small for much else. Eyeing Marshall warily, she took them out and opened them to reveal two matching glass display cases. As she gazed into them, she saw they each contained a single bullet, along with each of their names engraved onto plaques across the wooden bases.

"For the bullet room," he said softly, "from our service weapons."

A tear fell from the corner of her eye as she looked from the boxes to Marshall. "Thank you, it's perfect. The house is perfect. And you…you're not so bad either, Marshall Mann." Smiling coyly, she stood on her tips toes and kissed him as if it was the first time all over again.

"You know," Marshall said as he reached down and slid his hands under the t-shirt, kissing her along her neck as he spoke each word, "I think we skipped the bathrooms earlier."

"So I guess this means the time out is over," she teased, nipping at his earlobe, eliciting a sound from the back of his throat that made her start to ache in all the right places. "Then why don't you go make sure there's hot water."

"Mmm and you?" he managed to say as he pulled back to look at her.

"I'll be right behind you," she answered, "I'm just going to grab some towels; if I can find them."

"Well don't take too long," he ordered as he headed for the bathroom.

Mary smiled, a genuine smile of happiness, as she took one last look at the bullets before placing them on the table next to the mail and she froze. It was partially obscured, but she'd know that handwriting anywhere. Extracting it from the pile, she stared at her name and address on the plain, white envelope with no return address.

Heading into the kitchen, she took one last look before discarding it into the garbage can and walking away. She stripped herself of the t-shirt as she entered the bathroom. Then slipping into the shower, she snaked her arms around Marshall, the one man to put her before all else and the only man she truly ever needed. She embraced her present and future with fervor, washing herself clean of the past.


End file.
